Musee de l'Orangarie

There are so many museums in Paris to choose from, you have to be selective. I chose this smaller one because it housed impressionist paintings and in particular had two rooms of Claude Monet's Water Lillie paintings. I had seen some of them in New York and had had my first emotional reaction to art that I can remember. They did not disappoint and I found myself sighing and relaxing as I entered the first room. These paintings are enormous, covering metres of the rooms they are shown in. Traditionally they are in oval rooms with seats in the middle for you to sit and enjoy. Quiet is enforced and adds to the feeling of tranquility. The two rooms had quite different colors and moods.

Downstairs there was a small collection of other painters work. I was surprised how many names I recognised given my rudimentary knowledge of such things. There was paintings by Picasso, Renoir, Mattisse, Cezanne, Rousseau, Soutine etc but the collection was small enough to not be overwhelming. Highly recommend it if you just want a taste of the art on offer in Paris.Read more