Musee d'Orsay & Louvre

The Musee d'Orsay did not allow photographs, unfortunately, as it was an absolutely stunning building, and I can't possibly hope to describe the feeling of standing next to works such as The Burial at Ornans, and realizing exactly how freaking BIG those works are! The museum is in an old train station, and it is a perfect setting for the masterpieces it contains. The sculpture galleries are lit by natural light from elaborate skylights, and the height of the ceilings was breathtaking. [Fortunately, their website catalogs nearly every work in the collection with images and where- exactly- the work is in the galleries].

I saw Le Dejeurner sur l'Herbe and Olympia by Manet [which were both marvelous; having just finished a paper about them, I was able to bore my parents with dozens of minute details], enormous oil sketches by Lautrec [which I was astounded had survived (and were at that scale), being on unprimed canvas! Eek!], gorgeous pastel works by the Symbolists, and many, many others.

And, of course, what trip to Paris is complete without a trip to the Louvre? It was utterly overwhelming: thousands of works I've studied or seen vaguely, but also way too many people! Versailles was crowded, but not to the same extent.

I probably could have spent years in the Louvre. Gerricault, Delacroix, Le Brun, Da Vinci... So many works, so little time!