Paris: The Louvre & Musee d'Orsay

The Louvre and its pyramid are one of the top destinations in Paris. It's one of the world's largest art museums, holding some of the greatest works of all time - including: The Winged Victory and Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The building itself is a historic monument and a central landmark of Paris. It was once Louvre Palace, where the royal family used to live. It wasn't until 1682 that Louis XIV chose to leave the city and live at the Palace of Versailles.

The problem is that the museum is so huge that it's impossible to see everything. There are over 35,000 works of art displayed in the Louvre throughout approximately 652,300 square feet! I read that to devote 30 seconds to each (and ignoring the time taken walking from one work to the next), it would take about thirteen 24-hour days to see each piece. So needless to say, we came up with a game plan before we even entered the museum. There were 3 main things we wanted to see: 1) Mona Lisa, 2) Winged Victory, and 3) the Egyptian exhibits.

Part of The Louvre... it is HUGE!

Glass pyramid entrance in the main court to the Louvre.

Inside the Pyramid - view of the Louvre Museum from underground.

The Winged Victory

Musee d'Orsay was a former railway station, which is now an incredibly beautiful museum filled with impressionist paintings and marble sculptures. We were able to see extensive collections of paintings, including Monet and Van Gogh. There were also numerous sculptures, furniture, and photography exhibits. The interior of the museum is worth the entrance fee alone, and from the top floor you also get beautiful views of the city. There is a restaurant in the museum with huge glass windows overlooking the Seine River. I really wanted to eat here, but we ran out of time... next time!

Inside the museum - love the ceiling.
This picture is from the website http://aforsay.org/

Huge clock on the top floor of the Museum d'Orsay.
Looking out through the hands you can see Sacre Coeur Basilica.

Joe and I are not huge museum people, but I have to say that we really enjoyed both The Louvre and Museum d'Orsay. Stunning buildings, with beautiful art work exhibited in both. It would be nice to go back and spend more time in each.