MUSEUMS

It is always fun to watch the tourist mob. Everybody was trying to take a good shot of Mona Lisa at Louvre. I couldn't help documenting their devotion.

The exterior of Centre Pompidou. Very interesting. Renzo Piano is a pioneer.


Should you buy a museum pass?
As they say, if you are going to visit 2 museums per day, the museum pass will be useful.

There are usually two lines for every museum and monument, one is the security line and the other one is the ticket line. If you have a museum pass, you still have to go through the security line to be checked. But you can skip the ticket line and go right in after you pass the security check. The ticket line usually takes 20 minutes on average, some take longer. I was glad I could save the time lining up for the tickets. To me, it's worthwhile because it saved a little money and lots of time. 

You can buy museum pass at the first museum you visit.


Louvre 1st arrondissement
One of the largest museums in the world. It is a monument and also a museum. It holds western art from Middle Ages to 1848 and ancient civilizations. This is where the famous Mona Lisa is. 

Hour: 9am – 5:45pm. Late opening until 9:45pm on Wednesday and Friday (the rooms are closed 30 minutes before closing). Closed on Tuesday, 1.01, 5.01 and 12.25. 
Batobus: Louvre
Metro: Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre.


Musée d'Orsay 7th arrondissement
The museum building was originally a Beaux-Arts railway station, Gare d'Orsay. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915. It has the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art in the world. Among the featured artists are Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Rodin, and Van Gogh. 

Hour: 9:30am – 6pm. Late opening until 9:45pm on Thursday. Closed on Monday, 1.01, 5.01 and 12.25.
Batobus: Musée d'Orsay
Metro: Solférino
RER: Musée d'Orsay


Centre Pompidou 4th arrondissement
The building houses the largest museum for modern art in Europe. The design of the centre features exposed skeleton of brightly colored tubes for mechanical systems.

Hour: 11am – 9pm. Opening until 7pm on 12.24 and 12.31. Closed on Tuesday and 5.01.
Batobus: Hôtel de Ville
Metro: Rambuteau, Hôtel de Ville, Châtelet-les-Halles


Musée de Cluny 5th arrondissement
Musée national du Moyen Âge, formerly Musée de Cluny, is an example of architecture in medieval Paris. It contains Gallo-Roman baths and a variety of important medieval artifacts, particularly its tapestry collection. 

Hour: 9:15am – 5:45pm. Closed on Tuesday, 1.01, 5.01 and 12.25.
Batobus: Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Metro: Saint-Michel, Cluny-La Sorbonne


Musée Rodin 7th arrondissement
Rodin donated his works to the French State on the condition that they turn the buildings where his workshop located into a museum featuring his sculptures.
The Musée Rodin presents most of Rodin's famous works, including The Thinker, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell. Many of his sculptures are displayed in the museum's  garden. 

The museum holds some paintings by Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh which were in Rodin's personal collections. Besides being an artist, Rodin used to collect. As the result, the Musée Rodin collections are very diverse.

Hour: 10am – 5:45pm. Late opening until 8:45pm on Wednesday. Last entry 30 minutes before closing. Closed on Monday, 1.01, 5.01 and 12.25.
Batobus: Musée d'Orsay 
Metro: Varenne 


Musée de l'Orangerie 1st arrondissement
Located in the old orangery of the Tuileries Palace on the Place de la Concorde, it is an art gallery of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. The collection features the eight Water Lilies murals by Claude Monet, and works by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Rousseau, etc. in natural daylight.

Hour: 9am – 6pm. Closed on Tuesday, 5.01, 7.14 and 12.25.
Batobus: Louvre
Metro: Concorde

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