Musée d'Orsay

On Tuesday, we decided to go to the Musée d'Orsay. My mother, father, and I chose to walk there so we could see a little more of the city. We ended up crossing the Pont des Arts (Love Lock Bridge), which was quite a sight.  

Pont des Arts

It took us a while to get to the museum. First, we had to take pictures on the Love Lock Bridge, then we admired cute trays and posters sold by the street vendors, and then we had to wait in this ridiculously long line to get through the front doors of Orsay! (Thank goodness my grandparents and my brother got there before us - we were lucky not to have to wait so long.) When we finally got in, it was absolutely incredible - and we weren't the only ones who thought so because it was so crowded! The collection was enormous. On the first floor was a special exhibition featuring Carpeaux (a famous sculpture who was often commissioned by Napoleon III), Toulouse-Laurec, and many other artists. One of the exhibits I liked the best on the first floor was the Orientalism one. It featured many paintings of the people and landscapes of the Middle East.

"Vieil homme devant des tombeaux d'enfants"
Osman Hamdy Bey (1903)

The fifth floor was all Impressionism (my favorite)! There was Monet (lots of Monet), Renoir, Degas, Sisley, and more... One of the most impressive canvases we saw was Monet's "Femmes au Jardin", the huge painting had a wall all to itself.

"Femmes au Jardin"

After two floors, all of us were too tired to explore the rest of the museum so we left for lunch.

But, yesterday, my mother and I returned to see the second floor: Post-Impressionism. We saw Van Gogh, Gaugin, and pointillists Seurat and Signac. Van Gogh's self-portraits and Signac's Demonlitionist were my favorite. 

All in all, Musée d'Orsay is a must-see.