Paris | Day Three | Musee d'Orsay

 Our first stop of the day was Musee d'Orsay, located on the left bank of the Siene.

The museum houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin and Van Gogh.

The magnificent building was formerly a railway station (Gare d'Orsay) and still contains features such as the station clock. After the closure of the station due to its short platforms it became a mailing centre during World War II, and was later used as a theatre and film set. In 1970 permission was granted to demolish the station but Jacques Duhamel, Minister for Cultural Affairs, ruled against plans to build a new hotel in its stead. The museum officially opened in December 1986 after years of renovation.

Whilst we walked around the museum we felt an air of calm - the cool marble floors were illuminated with floods of natural light from the glass ceiling. The sheer scale of the building allowed you to wander around the spacious rooms for hours, discovering new sculptures and paintings. We were particularly impressed with the collections of Van Gogh paintings, with 24 on display you can easily spend a few hours admiring the art and relaxing in the lobby. 

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