Orsay Museaum and Montmartre

We had some issues waking up again today. We set an alarm on the phone and I-pod, both of which went dead during the night, and left the drapes open in the hopes that the light of day would wake us. They don't do daylights savings time here, so when our wonderful classmates remembered to knock on our door at 7:45 it was still dark out. But at least we were up in time for breakfast!

We left around 9 for the Orsay Museum. The Orsay is across the Seine from the Louvre and houses mostly impressionist art. The building itself is almost as beautiful as some of the Monets and Van Gough it houses. The structure is a converted train station, with a beautiful stone facade and splendid steal and plaster arched celings inside. What the building is most known for is its large clocks. Two glass ones on the outside offer splendid views of the city, and the gold one inside is just stunning.

The museum changed its hours on us, opening at 10 instead of 9. With the 45 minutes we had to kill we went to the Solferino bridge right next to the museum and got some stunning photos of the seine at sunrise. So as a review: con of no day lights savings is that it is dark at 8am, pro, you don't have to wake up early for sunrise shots.





a little fun with post process


After we got the photos we went into the building. Wow was it a treat for the eyes!


The building is a cylinder shape. It is difficult to see from the ground but the detail of the ceiling is stunning.




The clock above you in the entrance is amazing


The museum is multiple levels. Within the hollowed out shell of the main hall there are two levels: the first floor and the second level dedicated primarily to sculpture. We saw a lot of great paintings on the first floor, inclining works by Camille Corot who was a fabulous, but unknown to us, painter


After the first floor we worked our way up to the second floor, where the semi-circular cut outs on the walls of the main hall are. These are more rooms with more amazing ceilings.


BACAAAAWWW!


Within the glass walls on either side of the halls are stairs and elevators to take you up to more rooms outside of the main hall. These hold so many gems; it is worth going to every level. Our favorites were at the top. If you want a quick and breezy tour of this museum enjoy the main hall then head straight to the top, that’s where they keep the good stuff.

Monet




Van Gough




Renoir


And a new favorite of mine, Fantin-Latour


I unfortunately didn't take note of the artist of this amazing piece of work


The top floor also gives you a spectacular view from the other two clocks. One is located on the far side and is in a book store. You are supposed to have access to it and be able to look out over the city through the clock face. Unfortunately, it was closed off for us. :(




The other clock is on the other end of the museum and is in the middle of a restaurant, which actually has reasonably priced food, cheaper than what is outside of the restaurant. We chose to try and find something cheaper and ended up going back towards our hotel for food. If you are hungry, go ahead and eat here. I don't know how the food is, but the view is worth it.

Here is another view from one of the glass doors to the terraces, these are open in summer, so not open for me.


There are also little exhibits within the walls between the escalators up. These ones have frosted glass floors which we learned are slightly see-through


The Orsay was a wonderful juxtaposition to the Louvre. If you want to see both, I’d go to the Orsay in the morning, watch the sunrise from the Seine, and take your time inside the museum. Get lunch there then walk across the Seine to the Louvre. Enjoy the Louvre all afternoon and make sure you leave after it is dark. Leave through the pyramid and enjoy the view of the lights. It’s worth lugging a tripod around all day for the photos in front of the Louvre.

After the Orsay we took a breather at the hotel and then headed up to Montmartre. Montmartre is the main hill in the city. After the loss of the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 a cathedral, Sacré Cœur was built on Montmartre using public funds as a way to add moral to the demoralized country.

Getting to Montmartre is easy if you take the time to do it right. We took the 12 line and got off at Abbesses and walked a bit to Montmartre. The easier way to do it is to take the 2 to Anvers, which is right at the foot of the hill. If you don't feel like walking up the 200 steps to the top of Montmartre there is another subway that will take you up the rest of the way.

Because we didn't get off in front of Montmartre we took a more back way up.


There is TONS of graffiti in Paris. It lines every square inch of the subway, and this poor building was not immune


The journey we've had


We didn't know about this subway until after we were at the top. Whoops


There she stands




The inside of the church is just stunning. Unfortunately no photos are allowed. I snuck this one but was punished with a blurry photo. Because it was the only one I took I'm showing you anyways




Aside from the Cathedral Montmartre is a very cute and interesting part of Paris. It is older and immune to the improvements done by Haussmann in the 1850s. The streets are narrow and curved, and the buildings are quite old. The place also offers a spectacular view of the city, however, it was quite cloudy while we were there so our view was unimpressive. I did want to wait for dark to get a better view, but that was a few hours away and we were cold. Also, although we probably would have been fine, Montmartre is not exactly in the safest part of the city. It is very close to the red light district, and because it is free to see and attracts tourists there are a lot of shady individuals there waiting to take advantage of you.

And we were taking advantage of. There were some smiling men at the bottom of one set of stairs. Being a seasoned traveler I knew the drill. Eyes down, bag close, walk fast, say no. Unfortunately, the girl I'm traveling with is a little sweeter than that. She made the mistake of smiling back. Next thing she knew some string was looped around her finger and he was weaving her a bracelet. Oh if you don't want it you can just give it back. Yeah right. Once done, they wanted 10 euro for their work. LOL! But for us, 5 euros. That whole you can give it back thing doesn't work once it is on your wrist. We got out of there for the cost of 2 euro. Erin was very apologetic for stopping. We got a crepe with nutella in it to make ourselves feel better about being ripped off over the bracelets. The crepe stand right in front of Montmartre isn’t too ridiculously overpriced, and it’ll give you a warm treat to enjoy while you walk back to the subway.

Montmartre is only two exits away from Moulin Rouge. I suggest you take the time while you are on this side of Paris to see this historic piece of the underbelly of the city. This red light district is actually fairly high class. Just don’t make the mistake of going inside of one of the buildings. These tourist traps are literally traps, you will be forced to buy something before you leave. Or so I’m told. After our encounter with the shady gentlemen at Montmartre we didn’t feel like dealing with any more of this part of the city, so we went back to our hotel. Perhaps we’ll peak out at the Moulin Rouge another time for a quite photo op.

Tonight for dinner we went to a Lebanese place near the hotel. It was the best food I’ve had since I have been here. The French food is good, but believe it or not, you get tired of bread.