Whya gotta have so many museums Paris?

Still in Paris. Still talking about amazing Paris stuff. Here is my post about all the amazing museums we went to and all the buckets of art we were exposed to. Sadly, I didn’t get to all the galleries/museums on my list but we did make it to a few notable ones like the Louvre, Rodin Museum, Musée d’Orsay, and Musée de l’Armée.

Paris. It holds all the art I’ve ever lusted over. All the art that made me want to be an artist.

As a kid I would get art books as gifts, from the library, or I would save my money to buy them myself and I would spend countless hours poring over the images. I would imagine what it would be like to create beauty like these paintings. I would imagine what it would be like to be the artists I read about.

These paintings shaped my first understanding of what true beauty could be; aesthetically interesting, socially smart, sincere, occasionally soft, sometimes hard.

These artists were my superheroes growing up. They still sit up on pedestals in my mind. Names like Manet, Renoir, Rodin, Matisse, Monet, Seurat, Ingres, Camille, and I could go on. And not just impressionism/post impressionist artists, although they weighed rather heavily in my mind and in my book collection.

It is a magical thing to be influenced by someone or something else. To find something that helps you understand yourself better. I know people find this through music, literature, or even math. I found art, and I found it when my brain was still forming. Before I understood anything about anything I knew I liked these paintings, even if I didn’t know why.

Rodin Museum

This place was on the top of my to-do list ever since we decided to go to Paris. It did not disappoint. It’s a quieter museum compared to some of the others in Paris and it holds an amazing collection of Rodin’s masterpieces, most of which are delightfully scattered around the gardens. I spent an afternoon exploring the gardens and the museum. These gardens might just be my most favourite place on earth. If you’re ever in Paris please don’t hesitate to visit the Rodin sculpture garden and museum. Next time I’m in the neighbourhood I will surely be back, and I would like to visit his home and studio which is just outside of Paris.

Musée d’Orsay

Musée d’Orsay has an overwhelming collection. It also has an overwhelming amount of tourists who like to enjoy the collection. Unfortunately, the crowds made me pretty anxious, so I just didn’t spend a lot of time in rooms full of Van Goghs, Monets, or Renoirs. However, for some reason not too many people were in the rooms full of Toulous-Lautrecs! I got to stare at his magical paintings for as long as I wanted.

Another really cool thing about this museum is the building itself, which used to be a train station. The interior is very unique, especially for an art gallery.

Musée de l’Armée

Army army bo barmy. Napoleon’s tomb is epic.

My fav bit of the museum was this collection of toy soldiers.

Hey! what are you pointing at guy?

(click here for the panorama if the embedded one doesn’t work, or to see it full screen)

Musée de Louvre

One evening while walking home from some other magical cultural or historical sight of Paris we decided to walk past the Louvre. This would be my first time setting eyes on this iconic building and I honestly was not chill about it. It was too late to go in, but just being next to this place full of countless treasures was too much for me. I was like a child looking at an ice cream cone that I wasn’t allowed to have.

Poor John was so tired from walking all day and still patiently took my picture in front of all the things.

I’ve never been happier.

On another day we did go in and it was still too much for me.

How do I get the DaVinci Code outta that there pyramid? I should’ve payed more attention during the movie.

Aaaaaa! There is two of me! A demon! What witchcraft is this?

We were the only people in most of the rooms. It seemed like most people went to the top ten spots listed on the map and nothing else. Thankfully I enjoy more than just the top ten. So we traipsed around all the rooms… well as many as we could before our feet fell off.

Ingres!

This guy! Widely known from his internet fame.

It’s that pesky female artist again! Louise Le Brun get outta here!

I was very disappointed they didn’t have a gummy Venus de Milo in the gift shop.

I know you’re dying, but whya gotta be so dramatic?

Just around the corner from this lil’ lady are more large paintings by Da Vinci that nobody is looking at. Except me, I looked at them for a long time. And they said I wouldn’t get anything out of a fine arts degree.

(click here for the panorama if the embedded one doesn’t work, or to see it full screen)

Then we died somewhere in this hallway from the art overload and all the walking. I am just a ghost now. Doing ghost stuff.

Next up is our trip to Strasbourg!

~B~