Monet, Renoir, Degas, Manet and Van Gogh under the glass roof of a Belle Époque railway station. A calmer, more human-scale museum than the Louvre — if you book a timed entry and pick the right hour.
The Gare d'Orsay was built by the architect Victor Laloux for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, the grandest terminus in Paris for trains to the south-west. Its platforms became too short for modern trains within a few decades, and the station was nearly demolished. Instead it was converted into a museum and opened in 1986, bridging the gap between the Louvre's old masters and the modern art of the Centre Pompidou.
The collection covers roughly 1848 to 1914, and the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist galleries on the top floor are the heart of it: Monet's cathedrals and poppies, Renoir's Bal du moulin de la Galette, Degas' dancers and Van Gogh's self-portrait and Starry Night over the Rhône. On the ground floor, Manet's Olympia and Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe were the scandals of their day. Don't skip the two giant station clocks on the fifth floor — you can look through the clock face straight across the Seine to the Louvre and Montmartre.
Most visitors head straight to the fifth-floor Impressionists, so starting there as soon as you enter — or doing the ground floor first and going up after lunch — spreads you away from the crowds. Allow around three hours. A combined ticket with the Musée de l'Orangerie (Monet's Water Lilies) is worth it if you plan to see both. Check the official website for current opening times before you go.
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