This was our last day in Paris and we had a few hours to kill between checkout time from the hotel (11:00 am) and departure time for the train (7:00 pm). The hotel staff kindly offered to hold our luggage for us for the duration. So with no baggage to haul around we were virtually freed to do what we wanted to. Seeing the Musee d'Orsay was therefore a simple decision.
The museum is probably best known for its collection of Impressionist paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir and their contemporaries but carries post and pre impressionist period works as well. There is a surprisingly large collection of period and Modernist sculptures too with many works by Rodin represented. Photographing the artworks is unfortunately not permitted by we did get a great view of Sacre Coeur through the clock face on the fifth level.
The building itself is one gigantic hall, hardly surprising as in its previous life it was a railway station. While now much altered, all the exposed riveted steel beams are still a dead giveaway.
After picking up our luggage from storage at our hotel we did a quick metro scamper over to the Gare de Lyon where we would be catching the overnight train to Venice. The station itself is an enormous bussle of people and luggage coming and going in all directions but right in the heart of it is a restaurant called the Train Bleu. This used to be the buffet when the station was originally built for the Paris exhibition back in 1900. Then it was created in the lavish "Belle Epoque" style to impress the exhibition visitors and it has been meticulously restored to its exact original state. It is ungodly expensive and mostly full of "suits" doing business deals, but we stretched the budget to include a coffee and macaroons there so we could take some photos for you.
Click here for pictures of the Musee d'Orsay, Gare de Lyon and the Train Bleu.
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