The Ancient Hangover

June 15 ‐ Paris

Number of crepes: 4

Number of jumping pictures: 3

Another museum day! Today’s adventures take place at none other than…

…the famed Musee d’Orsay!

While walking to the museum, a lady stopped me, asking for directions. She was a tourist who spoke French pretty well (better than me, but I could tell it wasn’t her first language because she sometimes slipped up on her numbers) but no English. She wanted to know how to get to a certain monument by bus, and because she knew no English, we were forced to converse in French! We talked in French for over five minutes, which was very exciting for me. Honestly, I had never heard of the attraction she was trying to visit, so we went over to the map, and I helped her figure our which bus stop she needed and how to get there. Luckily, the bus stop was in an area that I actually knew, so I wasn’t completely useless!

Finally, we arrived at the Musee d’Orsay. We could tell this would be a cool museum even before stepping inside, simply because of the awesome statues in front of the building!

They can't put up a statue of a rhino without expecting me to imitate it!

The museum itself was amazing, huge but manageable and filled with gorgeous and varied collections. Just like outside, the main hall inside was lined with breathtaking statues.
Our favorites were busts by Charles Cordier. These sculptures consisted of bronze and marble. Each had great detailing, even in the deepest folds of their clothing. So beautiful!

We spent hours wandering through the museum, seeing such great works as Van Gogh’s self-portrait and pieces by Degas. Some of these paintings were familiar, but experiencing them in person was a totally different experience. It was an absolutely amazing opportunity to be able to sit and stare at those wonderful, rich blues Van Gogh used.

Ida especially liked Dante et Virgile aux Enfers by Adolphe William Bouguereau. It was one of her favorites in the entire museum! In Ida’s words, “so impressive.” It wasn’t my favorite, but it is super intense (and, you know, I appreciated the Vergil aspect. Gotta love that man).

In the main hall, where we kept stopping to look at the sculptures between exhibits, there was an enormous painting. We kept brushing it off, assuming it was just some boring, somewhat historical piece. Upon further inspection, however, we discovered it was the original inspiration for the movie The Hangover! Painted around 1815 by Thomas Couture, Les Romains de la Decadence is basically a painting of the day after a huge party thrown by wealthy Romans. We had so much fun coming up with scenarios for each character!

Overall, the Musee d’Orsay was everything I could ask for in an art museum- truly worth the day we spent in it. In fact, I don’t think we had a chance to see every exhibit there… which means we’ll have a reason to go back! 😉

Adieu!

-Zelda