Le Musee D'Orsay

I realize this is getting excessive what with me posting every day, but I figure this will taper off when I don't have all day every day to tour around and when Paris starts getting a little more blase to me.

Today - Le Musee d'Orsay. It started off very well because for some unknown reason, my little International Teacher card got me in free. Which means I can go back as often as I like just to even look at one painting if I want. I think I might return to utilize the audio tour one of these days. Le Musee d'Orsay is a revamped train station which makes for a pretty cool setting.


It specializes in impressionist art: Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Manet... Which I of course love. It really was quite exhilarating though to see so many of the famous works in one spot. What's more, I think I got a better understanding of the style just by seeing them up close and seeing the brushstrokes. It's all about the brushstrokes! It finally clicked how Van Gogh's style is different than Monet... Straight vs. swirly sort of. But it's also how he used the strokes to match the texture of the object he was painting.

Because my posting all of the paintings you've seen hundreds of times will do nothing more for you than what my AP Art history book did for me, I'm not going to bother. You just have to see the paintings in person. But here are a few I'd never seen before that I liked.

Degas pastel - La Tasse de Chocolat apres le Bain (The Cup of Chocolate after the Bath. Yes!)

Degas oil - Femme Assise Dans une Baignoire (Woman Sitting in a Bathtub)

Renoir oil - La Liseuse (The Reading Light?)

Degas oil - Danseuses Bleues (Blue Dancers)

I don't know if it means anything that my favorite paintings all involve girls, girls that are engaged in reading, dancing, or bathing. But there it is. And yes, Degas does happen to be my favorite - maybe for that reason.

PS - My friend Betsy informed me today that the little ring exchange from yesterday was in fact a common Parisian ploy to get money. It had seemed a little odd that a huge hunk of a man's wedding band was just lying around. I had imagined that some man had ripped it off in a fit of anger and sadness after discovering his cheating wife, right at the Pont d'Alexandre III. I'm happy to report, that he's still probably happily married. And that the beggar can at least sell the ring if he's getting a little low on funds and wants a croissant.

PPS - That little obelisk that I felt was inconsequential - turns out came from Luxor temple in Egypt :-) Ha! I have been to Luxor before, but I didn't notice any missing holes in the ground. Nevertheless, I will need to make a return visit to La Place de Concorde.