Musee D'orsay

Today was a museum day.  I did some research on this museum and saw some tips on buying tickets online to avoid standing in long lines. Last night, I tried to buy 2 tickets and had no luck. It would take too long to have them mailed and we can't open the mailbox here anyway. And the other option was to pick up the pre-ordered tickets at a few inconvenient locations.  We decided to just risk it and hope there wouldn't be too much of a long line.

Here's the kids on the trainride to the museum. They are expert train riders now.

Luckily because of the rain, there wasn't much of a line. What really made the line go slow was the security. They check your bags and you have to go through some kind of metal detector.  There are at least 6 cashiers to buy tickets so that line didn't take long. Tickets were 8 euros each for the day and kids are free. You have to love the fact that kids are free at all these museums.

At the Musee d'Orsay, you can't take any pictures.  It's an old train station.  It does reminde me of Chicago's Union Station.  It has a humongous clock on the wall.  You can imagine people bustling around to catch their trains.  Unfortunately, there was construction going on so a lot of the first floor was taken up by temporary galleries so you lost some of the feeling of grandness in the lobby. This was definitely the kind of art we liked - much better than the Louvre.  Renaissance isn't so much our thing. More impressionism.

Here's what the kids had to say about their favorite paintings:

Vincent Van Gogh

Portrait_of_Dr._Gachet  c 1890

Zach: "It doesn't look like art. It's real and not real together. It's got a certain feeling to it. Wavy lines going in the same direction but changing different ways. All the different colors makes it look so strong, like on his jacket."

1889 Self Portrait

Zach: "In the background and his coat, it's wavy.  All mixed together. For the coat, it's sort of wavy but different texture. The way his face is, is opposite with lots of individual strokes. It changes the whole picture and makes it look like real, not just wavy lines."

The Restaurant of Sirene 1887

This is one of Asia's favorites.

Thatched cottages at Cordeville 1890

Asia:  "Similar to starry night. Similar sky and trees. Not so similar on the scene. I really like it, especially the colors. All the plants and the house too."

Claude Monet

London Parliament in Breaking Fog 1904

Zach:  "So many colors mixed together. You can see the outline of a castle. You can see a sun. It blurs into one great painting."

Haystacks 1891

Asia:  "Monet does haystacks a lot. Especially these kinds.  My favorite is the background. The color just goes into it. The haystacks even have blue in it. It's just magical. Even how it pops out of the page. I just really like it."

Blue Water Lilies 1916-1919

Zach: "Blue and green are great colors to mix. Every now and then there's a white! It blows my mind."

Villas at Bordighera

Zach: "There are so many bright colors mixed together to make a great combo. Looks almost real. There's so much action."

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Bal du moulin de la Galette 1876

Asia: "How he does all the people and the colors! Even the grass, the detail! Amusing."

Aristide Maillol

Woman with a parasol 1895

Asia: "Colors blend together. The dress is so beautiful. Maybe I could make that dress if I had the fabric."

Paul Cezanne

Still life with open drawer 1877

Asia: "All the colors pop!"

Charles Emile de Tournemine

Elephants d'Afrique 1867

Asia: "Looks so real. Even the sky looks really cool. Even the birds! Just the colors! Really nice."

Henri Fantin-Latour

Chrysanthemums in a vase  1873

Asia: "Magenta, yellow and white chrysanthemums in a white and brown vase.  Looks real, pretty, sparkly and 3D."

Cuno Amiet

Snowy landscape

Asia: "All the colors that I don't think would be snow colors come together. It's just magical."