Dining in the Musee d'Orsay (and musing about lovely Paris)

Jan 26

Written By Jim Nix

Dear Paris - why is everything there so ridiculously beautiful??! It's almost unfair for all other cities!

As you may know from reading previous posts like this one or even this one or heck, even this iPhone summary (and hopefully enjoying the pics!), I spent over a week in Paris back in November with the family. It was a work trip that was combined with a family trip, and it was simply put, amazing.

Then again, this is Paris, and it's hard to not find it amazing.

The big wide view of the cavernous interior - just ridiculously awesome in my opinion!  (Taken from the upper floor - there's a great landing there) — The big wide view of the cavernous interior - just ridiculously awesome in my opinion! (Taken from the upper floor - there's a great landing there)

Sidebar: can you imagine working for the Tourism Board there? I imagine their meetings are very short. "Hey, how do we get tourists interested in visiting Paris?" "Oh yeah, we're already pretty much #1 on everyone's list, so let's get back to having coffee and croissants."

That's an easy day at work. :-)

another shot of the main hallway - off to each side are lots of galleries where you can find most of the art.

All kidding aside, it's not a "big reveal" to say that people want to go to Paris. We all want to go, even though we've already been. If we haven't been, we want to go because we read blog posts about how great it is. :-)

And here's the thing I noticed on this trip (my 2nd in 2 years, luckily) - EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL. I'm serious. It seemed like everything that I looked at was just beautiful. Even just random crap you see in every city: sidewalk cafes and coffee shops, retail stores, train stations - you name it. All beautiful.

i had to take a close-up of that clock - just too awesome to pass up!

Today's post is a perfect example. We were going to visit the Musee d'Orsay to enjoy all the fabulous work from the great Impressionist artists of years ago. I'm a big fan of that style of work, and frequently use Topaz Impression to create paintings from my pics in a similar style. You can read my Topaz Impression review here.

here's an example from topaz impression - seems almost funny to make an impressionist piece of a museum full of impressionist pieces!

We were aware of there being a cafe there, and thus planned to have lunch while at the museum. And when you walk in, well - it's beautiful. Big surprise. I had been to the Orsay a couple years ago but didn't see (or know about) the cafe, so this was a nice surprise. We sat down to eat, and of course after ordering I wandered here in the cafe and took lots of pics. It was too hard to resist!

And yes, I have a list of the best places to take photos in Paris, and of course the Musee d'Orsay is listed. Just be sure and stop in to see the cafe as well! You can thank me later!

A SLIGHTLY WIDER VIEW OF THE CEILING AND THE LIGHT FIXTURES - SEE WHAT I MEAN?  IT'S JUST AWESOME. — A SLIGHTLY WIDER VIEW OF THE CEILING AND THE LIGHT FIXTURES - SEE WHAT I MEAN? IT'S JUST AWESOME.

If it isn't obvious yet, the Musee d'Orsay is actually housed in an old Beaux-Arts style train station, hence the large and wide main section you see in the photos today. There is actually a "no photography" rule in the museum, by the way. When I was here about 2 years ago, they seemed to be enforcing it, and thus I only got a shot or two of the place. However on my recent trip, while the "no photography" signs were still there, there was absolutely no enforcement of it, so folks were snapping away. It didn't take me but a couple of seconds to join them!

Glad I did!

Well, that's a quick tour folks. Make sure and stop here when you get to Paris - like everything else about the town, it's beautiful! Have a great day!