The Impressionists in a Belle Époque railway station, then Monet's water lilies in two calm oval rooms across the river. Together they make the best art day in Paris.
The Gare d'Orsay was built for the 1900 World's Fair and became a museum in 1986. It covers French art from about 1848 to 1914, the years when painting left the studio.
The highlights are on the top floor: Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne and Van Gogh, including his Bedroom in Arles. Downstairs, Manet's Olympia still holds the stare that scandalised 1865. The giant station clock frames a view to Sacré-Cœur.
Across the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor and through the Tuileries, the Orangerie holds Monet's eight Water Lilies panels, hung in two oval rooms lit from above as he wanted. Downstairs is a fine small collection of Renoir, Cézanne and Soutine.
The combined ticket (€20) covers both. Mind the closing days: Orsay shuts on Monday, the Orangerie on Tuesday.
Wednesday to Sunday, when both are open.
Go straight up to the fifth floor before the crowds and work down.
Look out through the clock face over the Seine to the Louvre and Montmartre.
Manet, Courbet and the sculpture hall under the old station roof.
Walk over the footbridge and eat in the garden cafés or a picnic on the iron chairs.
Sit on the benches in the oval rooms and let the panels take over.
Book timed tickets online for both; the combined ticket is sold on either museum's site.
Orsay: RER C Musée d'Orsay or Métro Solférino. Orangerie: Métro Concorde, in the corner of the Tuileries.
Wednesday to Sunday both are open; avoid the first Sunday of the month, when Orsay is free and crowded.
Paris practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
