Another important museum with an art collection focused mainly on the French Impressionists of the period 1848-1914 is the famous Musée d'Orsay.
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Its collections form an intermediate level between the Louvre and the Centre Pompidou.
If you're not an avid connoisseur of this art, you'll be intrigued by the building it's located in, which you definitely won't want to miss as it's on the left bank of the Seine River. The museum is housed in the former d'Orsay station, built for the 1900 World's Fair in the Art Nouveau style. The museum opened here in 1986.
Masterpieces and collections
The Musée d'Orsay boasts some of the most infamous works of the French Impressionists and certainly some of the most sought after:
- Vincent van Gogh - Noonday Rest, Marguerite Gachet in the Garden, The Cottages of Cordeville
- Auguste Renoir - The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil, Dance at the Moulin de la Galette
- Paul Gauguin - Mill at Port-Avent, Food
- Paul Cézanne - Apples and Oranges, The Gambling House, The House by the Hanged Man
- Claude Monet - Saint Lazare Station, Woman with an Umbrella, The Reservoir at Argenteuil
Entrance fees and opening hours
The Musée d'Orsay is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, except on Thursdays, when it is open until 9:45 pm. It remains closed on Mondays.
Admission for an adult is 16 eur, children and students up to the age of 26 are free. If you go with a child under 18, their accompanying child has a reduced admission price 13 eur.
Official museum website: www.musee-orsay.fr
You can buy tickets online for exact times or at the door. Lines are not usually long and you will usually wait up to 15 minutes.
How to get there
The Musée d'Orsay is located on the banks of the Seine River, opposite the Tuileries Gardens and the Louvre Museum, which can be reached on foot in 10 minutes.
Use the following public transport stops near the museum:
- Musée d'Orsay station directly below the museum.
- RER C train - Invalides, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Versailles, Gare d'Austerlitz
- Solférino station 250 metres from the museum
- Metro 12 - Place de la Concorde, Church of La Madeleine, Montmartre, Gare Montparnasse, Gare Saint-Lazare, Porte de la Chapelle
- Bus 68 - Louvre, Palais Royal, Opera, Place de Clichy, Montparnasse Cemetery
- Bus 84 - Panthéon, Luxembourg Gardens, Place de la Concorde, La Madeleine
- Bus 94 - Place de la Concorde, La Madeleine, Gare Montparnasse, Gare Saint-Lazare
- Musée d'Orsay stop 50 metres from the museum
- Bus 69 - Invalidovna, Champ de Mars
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