A Day Of Art @ the Orsay

Today we went to our first art museum together on this trip (we’re both not really art lovers so we’ve been waiting for the larger, everybody-must-see museums), and although we still don’t appreciate or understand art as much as most people, we both felt the Orsay was a worthwhile experience that made us feel inclined to get more into art.  We’re not saying we’ll go study it or learn about different artists or anything like that, but we might invest in buying a piece or two when we get home, instead of having bare walls like we’ve always had.  The thing about art is it’s so subjective and we don’t know how to determine what a piece is or isn’t worth, but there’s a learning curve for everything and today was the first baby step.

Our orignal plan was to maybe also go to the Louvre today, but having to wait in line for 45 minutes at the Orsay put us behind schedule, and we didn’t realize how large their collection is until we got inside.  By the time we were done the first floor we had had just about enough art for the day, and there were still two more floors for us to explore!

I won’t bore you with the details of what we saw, but I will say my favourite piece was one of Monet’s earlier works from his pre-impressionism days called Le déjeuner sur l’herbe. He started this huge (4×6 meters) picture of people having lunch in the park in 1865, but abandoned the painting in 1866, unable to finish it.  Monet then used it as a security deposit to his landlord, who put the painting in his cellar where it developed mould (if only he knew what it would be worth some day)!  When Monet got the painting back in 1884, he cut it up and kept three fragments – two now hang at the Orsay and one has disappeared. 

Although we spent quite a bit of time on the first floor, we picked up the pace on the second floor when we got to the sculptures section.  The whole genre of sculpture doesn’t particularly appeal to us because everything looks the same to our untrained eyes!  Even Auguste Rodin’s works blended together to me, and he’s considered the predecessor of modern sculpture!  I don’t think I’ll ever be into collecting sculptures…

Despite hurrying through the second and fifth floor, it was past 4 when we left the Orsay.  Being tired and hungry with not much time left in the day (almost everything closes at 6 on Saturdays), we decided to try to go to Notre Dame one more time.  We hopped on the metro to get there and then found a Greek restaurant nearby the cathedral to grab a quick bite.  This might be the last time we try Greek food in Europe until we get to Greece – Paul’s knuckle of pork was really really overcooked (and they said that’s how it should be) and my skewer of chicken was rather dry as well
 
Lunch took less than 40 minutes, and by 5:30 we had finished seeing Notre Dame (although we didn’t bother to climb up the tower).  We decided to head to the flagship Galleries Lafayette department store on Boulevard Haussmann since it opens until 7:30 on Saturdays but closes on Sundays.  For anyone who’s into designer luxury brands, this store is not to be missed!  The main building is 10-stories of boutique shopping delight, and there are 3 other buildings next to it (a Men’s Store, Home Store, and Lafayette Gourmet).  As a girl who cannot shop for the next few years, our hour spent here was torturous and involved a lot of willpower to not buy anything, but I made it out without a single purchase!  It will definitely be nice to do some shopping when I finally get home…