The Paris museums

We had a great time exploring Paris over the holidays. We spent quite a bit of time exploring museums. Of course that included the Louvre (I'll get to that one).

I don't profess to be much of an art connoisseur. That said, I found I really enjoyed my time in the museums. My favorite museum was the Orsay which has a very good collection of the Impressionist painters. After viewing most of these great painters, I've decided that my favorite artists are Renoir, Monet, and Degas. I liked all of the impressionists, but these three the most.













We went to a museum called l'Orangerie which has Monet's Water Lilies. I was amazed at how large these paintings were. They were incredible. If you get to Paris, don't pass this little museum by.


The Louvre is quite the institution. It's the largest museum in the world. That said, it was crowded. Taking the advice of Rick Steve's, we did the highlights tour and saw the Venus, the Mona Lisa, etc. The Mona Lisa was disappointing. It was a small painting in a large, crowded room (see picture to right).



The building itself is a work of art, as it was once a palace. I can say I've been there and done that now. I'd go back to the Orsay.

We also spent a couple of hours in the museum, Musee de l'Armee at Les Invalides. It had the tomb of Napolean Bonapart in it's dome (left). It also had very interesting collections of WWI and WWII. It was fascinating to see this history from another perspective.