Paris Day 7

On the seventh day we set off to see the Musee d'Orsay. We went on foot from the apartment to the Metro at Abessess. We travelled down in the lift and found some scratched artwork in the lift's walls. They're very good despite being an act of criminal damage!

The above are clearly Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Does anyone know who this is?

Or this?

Or indeed this?

We walked to the Musee d'Orsay. The museum is in a converted railway station. It is a beautiful building but whether it works as a museum I'm not sure as space within the building did appear to be tight. However, the museum was undergoing some refurbishment and this may have led to it feeling a bit of a squeeze. That and the amount of people which were inside. We had to queue for about 45 minutes to get in.

There were some super sculptures outside.

The rhinoceros was guarding the main entrance.

As you enter there are signs showing that no photographs can be taken. This disappointed me after the more relaxed approach at the Georges Pompidou Centre. I think that the reasoning behind it is nothing to do with any potential damage to the paintings but to the fact that it would slow down the flow of traffic. It seemed that you were hardly allowed any time to admire the paintings before you were shunted from behind to move forward. Despite the no camera sign - I did take a few!

I was enthralled by the works of four artists - Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas.

The above is by Paul Gauguin.

There were some truly inspirational paintings here even the Other Half admired them.

There were no sarcastic comments about children being able to draw these!

By Vincent Van Gogh - his bedroom at Arles.

A still life.

By Vincent Van Gogh.

Another Van Gogh. If I had to choose he was probably my favourite - the choice of colours were lovely and the quality of the paintings in real life is far better that what I've photographed or indeed what you see in a book.

Paul Gauguin - Early Days in Tahiti.

More from Tahiti.

Another Gauguin - Self-Portrait.

And another!

"The White Cat" - Pierre Bonnard.

"The Checked Blouse" by Pierre Bonnard.

"Woman at her Toilet" - Pierre Bonnard.

Inside the museum - a vast space in the middle and then much smaller rooms leading off of this space. The rooms made us feel a bit like sardines in a tin!

The pale colours in this one were beautiful.

By Claude Monet - Woman Holding an Umbrella, turning to the left.

By Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

By Edgar Degas - Dancer with Bouquet, Curtsying on Stage. These are all the photos I managed to take without attracting the attention of the staff. Having taken 18 I thought I'd chanced my luck and left it at that! There were a few others taking photos and the staff seemed to turn a blind eye.

The only disappointment was the amount of people that were present as it meant that you were not really given the time to appreciate these very beautiful paintings.

We left the museum and found a row of statues outside - waiting for me and my camera!

So I busily snapped away.

At these lovely busty ladies!

Another one!

And another!

The Museum d'Orsay.

We went in search of food as it was by now quite late in the afternoon. We had thought of having lunch in the museum but there was once again a very long queue. I don't really like queuing at the best of times so we decided that as it was so late and that the prices would probably be higher at the museum than elsewhere it was our cue to go elsewhere. We found a lovely little cafe nearby and were entertained by the french owner of the cafe - who was quite rude with people who came in and just looked at the menu. She just ushered them out of the cafe telling them to go as they were blocking the aisles! Those who sat down to look at the menu were treated with respect and she was there is a flash taking an order! A woman after Basil Fawlty's heart!

Shortly afterwards we returned to Abessess on the Metro - more on this later!

Until next time,

June.