Musee d’ Orsay

Musee d' Orsay used to be a railway station and is located along the Seine River, and was turned into a museum in1986 as a way to bridge the art world gap from the Louvre and the Modern Art Museum. Showcasing French art from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and Post Impressionist masterpieces in the world, and is the second most visited museum in France after the Louvre.

 This beautiful clock is a showstopper!

I have to say, I think I liked this museum more than the Louvre. I loved the architecture of the building and the artwork was more my taste, but I also appreciated the smaller, more manageable size compared to the Louvre. Looking back, I wish we had spent more time here, but after spending more than half the day at the Louvre, we were ‘museumed out’ and mostly just focused on seeing the highlights.

The sculpture is amazing, but also that skylight!

and how lucky/blessed were we that the exhibition that the museum was currently showcasing was the final works of Vincent van Gough during the few weeks leading up to his death. He painted 70 paintings during the final 70 days of his life.  So a painting a day. This vacation has felt almost like a loving tribute to Vincent after seeing this as well as his museum in Amsterdam. I now feel I have seen all of Vincent's most famous works except for Starry Night, which is in NYC.  

(I think this is one of my favorite self portraits of him.  I love the lines and the blue color in this)

Dr. Gachet (Vincents homeopathic doctor who took care of him during the final months of his life)

another fave

The Church of Auvers

I thought this was so cool, this was his palette and tubes of paint.

Wheatfield with Crows.  

This is often interpreted as one of his final paintings

Gah!! Again such a famous/classic piece.  So happy I got to see this

and this! This was his prequel to The Starry Night.

Vincents actual last painting: Tree Roots

I truly feel in love with Van Gough after this trip, but I think I already talked about my undying love for him in my previous Van Gough post so I'll move on.

The view from the window 🤩

Ok after making sure we saw Vincent we can continue on with the rest of the museum.

After the Musee d' Orsay we grabbed a bite to eat.  I wanted to try France's famous beef bourguignon, but honestly I think my pot roast is better.

ok don't mind my weird look, don't know what I was looking at, but wanted to showcase France's  version of apple pie, and of course you can never go wrong with a creme brulee.

after dinner we made the climb to see Basilica of Sacre-Couer (Sacred Heart)

and there she is.  Like a shinning beacon on top of a hill overlooking Paris

and then on our way back down, we saw this famous Parisian attraction.  Such a completely different turnaround from the Basilica! 

whew such a long day!  With 2 different museums and walking around the city at night to see more attractions.  There is just so much to do and see in Paris that we're just trying to get as much in as we can!