Musée d'Orsay

The last time I was in Paris, there was no Musée D'Orsay. There was the Jeu de Paume. What a fantastic place -- this converted gorgeous train station that now holds the art from the period 1848 to 1914 which includes the Impressionists . I stood in line beginning at about 10:30 for 1 1/2 hours and passed the time happily with a family of Scots. I had planned to stay only a couple of hours, my usual limit for museums. But something has happened to me and I couldn't get enough of it. I found it so exciting. The space, the collection -- everything. You walk into almost any room and see a painting so ridiculously familiar, but there it is -- the real thing. I just laughed. Finally I left just before it closed. That was after the battery ran way low on my phone/camera and the battery in my audio tour had given out completely. When I arrived it was drizzly and cool and during the day, the sky cleared, giving way to fantastic clouds, blue sky and breezy sunshine. At various points, one could look out windows to the Seine and the Rive Droit and the bridges and see this gorgeous day, with a sky looking just like . . . well . . . an Impressionist painting.

Here's a Monet

Here's the view from the museum, my photo,
slightly altered in Photoshop to make it more painterly.

Much more to report and share, but I've got to go to sleep. Jed and I had a lovely, and typically long, dinner in a little French restaurant nearby. Now we're both done for the day. More soon.