The Musée d’Orsay for a special exhibit

Community Highlights Europe The Musée d’Orsay for a special exhibit

May 31, 2024 — Day 15 (Friday)

Cold, windy, rainy . . . again. We had a leisurely breakfast avoiding the rain. Finally decided go the the Musée d’Orsay to visit the special Impressionist Exhibit celebrating 150 years of Impressionism. We explored transportation options and decided on the #63 bus that has a stop a couple blocks from the Orsay. We walked up to the bus stop at Saint Sulpice and waited in the cold with a lot of other people. Our bus finally arrived and was crammed but a woman offered me a seat and Ed soon claimed the seat beside me. That was good except we were facing backwards so it was hard to see the stops. Fortunately, the driver was announcing the stops so we had no problem.

Descended from the bus and walked the couple blocks to the museum to be met with the entire population of Paris waiting in various lines. We found the correct line (C2) and joined it. It slowly climbed the stairs and then wound around the courtyard for 45 minutes. We were finally ushered in and through Security and to the ticket sellers who were delightfully human. We got the tickets, entered and discovered there were no lockers due to renovations. We wore coats and stuffed umbrellas in our coat pockets.

The lines outside gave us an idea what the inside would be like and it was. The crowds were unbelievable. We fought our way through a few galleries but hadn’t been given a floor map and had no idea where anything was since they seem to delight in moving the paintings around between our visits. We finally gave up and found the information desk and got maps. Ed asked where the elevator was so we could go to fifth floor and she directed us to a dead end. We looked through the little map and it was utterly useless. Finally gave up and walked downstairs to the main entrance and just started walking along the main hallway. We stopped to visit the Millet exhibit when it appeared and then my favorite painting in the Orsay, Rosa Bonheur’s Labourage nivernais or Plowing in the Nivernais. I will never forget the first time I saw it and I’ve looked it up every time we’ve visited since.

Then we saw the special exhibit, Paris 1874–Inventer l'impressionnisme, up a set of stairs so we climbed up. They were screening people and we didn’t know if our tickets included the special exhibit so approached with trepidation. The screening lady just waved us through without looking at anything so we’ll never know. Then the fun began. The main musum was crowded beyond anything I care for but this exhibit was a zoo. You could hardly walk and you simply could not see the paintings. I like to stand back and see them from a distance and it just wasn’t going to happen. There were too many people taking selfies in front of the paintings, crowding around the painting and listening to their audio guides and some, just chatting in front of the paintings. They walked right in front of you and we started to feel invisible. We struggled through the entire exhibit but it was painful. I’m glad people are supporting art, but it would be nice if they would actually look at it while taking selfies and listening to audio guides.

We escaped the special exhibit and found the escalator to the fifth floor where the Impressionists that are the permanent collection are installed. It was quite crowded but it always is. We fought our way through the many galleries while attempting to avoid people. We remembered long ago when we could look at the paintings from across the room and really look at them. It was lots of fun. This was more a trial by fire. We decided we probably won’t visit the Orsay again. I guess we’ve had our turn. We also decided to avoid the Louvre since it is probably worse than the Orsay.

We found our way downstairs and to the exit and started looking for lunch. The first two restaurants were not inspiring but I was exhausted from fighting the people; it was way past lunch time and I didn’t think I could walk much farther without some rest. The third restaurant won, the Café d’Orsay at 73 Rue de Lille beside the museum. It wasn’t a great dining experience and we were unpleasantly near two American couples who were trying to outdo each other with the tour experiences, their drivers, etc. all loud enough that the entire front room could hear every word. They were both older couples, one a husband and wife and the other a grandmother traveling with her adult granddaughter. The waiter kept forgetting to bring our water and never did bring bread. Ed got fish and chips and I got grilled salmon. His fish was burnt but my salmon was all right. It was pouring outside so we were in no hurry to leave. I certainly would not return nor recommend the place. They couldn’t help the patrons who were noisy, but they could help the poor service and mediocre food. It was such a change from the other places we’ve eaten.

The rain stopped so we paid the bill and cheerfully left. We walked up to the bus stop and discovered it was lost behind some construction barriers. Oops. We walked back to the next stop and waited there for the next bus. Thankfully, the rain held off. Then we missed our stop to get off so left at the following stop and walked back home a different way that really wasn’t any farther.

We listened to more news with everyone analyzing Trump’s conviction on 34 counts. Then Trump had a press conference and droned on and on saying nothing but repeating that he was being persecuted. He’s a sad case. I can’t believe anyone ever voted for him and really can’t believe people continue to support him. Tragic for all of us.

This featured blog entry was written by Beausoleil from the blog Paris Was Preparing for the Olympics.
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