Last Day in Paris, the Musee D'Orsay

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The Musee D'Orsay picks up where the Louvre leaves off. Here are great works of the late 19th and early 20th century, including many paintings we've seen hundreds of times in photos, ranging from Romanticism to Impressionism to Cubism. Whistler's Mother resides here, as well as some of my favorite paintings by Mary Cassatt, who was born and studied in Pittsburgh before moving to Paris and being accepted as part of the Impressionist movement.





























The Orsay is a fun museum. We're constantly oohing and aahing over something we've always wanted to see, and here it is. Van Gogh, Picasso, Degas, Manet, Monet, Gauguin, Rousseau-it's a smorgasbord.

At last we are forced by hunger to take a break. We find the restaurant and-surprise-it's as beautiful and delightful as the rest of the museum. Chandeliers, gilded mirrors, fresh flowers and the flood of natural light from the large windows- this is a great dining room!

The meal takes a while-again, dining in France is a leisurely experience, and we are truly refreshed after we polish off dessert.

We move toward the furniture exhibits without high expectations. We've seen some art deco stuff before and have not been overly impressed. But oh, this is fabulous! The pieces of furniture are works of art. And there is room after room of it.

We have to keep moving because there is so much to see. We could spend so much more time here. Another reason to come back to Paris, but then who needs another reason?

As closing time approaches we try to take it all in, however briefly. We have dozens of pictures, trying to capture the color, the way an artist has captured an expression, a special detail. We know it's impossible, just as it's impossible to capture a truly majestic landscape. Some things you just have to see.

There is just an hour after the Orsay closes until Galleries Lafayette closes, so we're back on the Metro to L'Opera. Galleries is so big, though, that the men's department is across the street in another building.

I always agonize over gifts for my sons-in-law-actually all our men are hard to buy for- so I search intensely for just the right things. At last I narrow it down to shirts for Kenny, Josh, and Evan. Then it's a matter of getting the style right, the color, something they will actually wear.

We exit the store with minutes to spare.

No real dinner tonight. We need to get up early to catch our flight.

We take the Metro and the train to Orly, where I find a tuna baguette. Bernie opts for a slice of pizza to take back to the hotel, and we climb into the shuttle. Our last night in Paris.