Bonsoir! I noticed that I have tons of photos hanging around, from various travels, so I thought I'd reach into that pile and scoop out some nice things. I went to Paris for a few days in 2009 and, while the Louvre is marvelous, I think my favorite museum was the
Musee d'Orsay. (I didn't have an exterior shot, so this one is from Wikimedia Commons. The remaining photos are mine.)
The museum building was formerly a grand Beaux-Arts train station, Gare d'Orsay, built in 1900. When long-distance trains became too long for its platforms, it fell into disuse. It was rescued from demolition in the 1970s and was ultimately turned into a glorious art museum.
More pictures below the croissant.
The inside space is soaring and wonderful, and includes an enormous clock by one of the original train-station architects, Victor Laloux.
I was rather surprised to be allowed to photograph the art. The idea of the museum is to house art (mostly French) dating from 1848-1915. Their collection of Impressionists is, well, impressive.
And what museum would be complete without a pootie?
There's also a splendid collection of
Art Nouveau furniture and decorative arts. By that time, a lot of my pictures were coming out blurry -- I think I was a little blurry. (That's how I look in the mirrors, anyway.) Here are some of the better bits.
If you'd like to see more from this museum, I linked to their English-language website at the top of this diary, but also, Google Cultural Institute has a nice user-friendly view of many works in the museum's collection.
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