Paris is the home for one of the most famous museums in the world, the Louvre. So it is easy to forget other museums like Musée d’Orsay in the city. However, it will be a big mistake to overlook this magnificent museum.
Musée d’Orsay is considered to be the little sister of the Louvre, and is located just across the river from the Louvre. The museum houses artworks from the period of 1848 to 1915. Though this period is relatively short, it is a very important and special one, as this period includes a brilliant collective of artists called the Impressionists.
Like many other museums in Paris, the d’Orsay was not built as an art house, but as a railway station for the 1900 World Fair. The building itself is a work of art with a classic stone exterior and a strikingly modern interior made completely out of metal and glass.
The building was opened as a museum in 1986 and has been attracting many visitors since then. The main attraction of the d’Orsay museum is its astonishing collection of Impressionist paintings, which is probably the best collection in the world. The collection here includes works of Pierre-August Renoir, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Vincent Van Gogh.
Opening Hours and Prices
The museum is open six days a week, from Tuesdays to Sundays, and the normal open hours are from 09:30 am to 06:00 pm. However, on Thursdays the museum will stay open until 09:45 pm. The price for full ticket is 11 Euros and a reduced rate ticket of 8.5 Euros is offered for people in the age group eighteen to twenty five.
If you are okay to spend a few more Euros, you can also get the ticket online. Online booking offers entry through reserved entrance and you can skip the line this way.
Just as many other amazing monuments in Paris, the d’Orsay museum can be quite overwhelming. If you wanted to learn more on the historical significance of the place, there are tour and audio guides available for six and five dollars respectively. Yet again, the guided tour of the museum is intended only for adults and children under the age of thirteen are not allowed to take part in it.
