Paris » Gallery #6: Musée d'Orsay and Musée Rodin
Day 9 of our trip – 7 June 2002:
By our last day in Paris, we realized that there were still about a dozen places we hadn't seen yet, and obviously wouldn't have time to see. So, we focused on a few places we knew we definitely had to visit. The first was the Orsay Museum (Musée d'Orsay), which houses perhaps the best collection of Impressionist art anywhere in the world. We are both huge enthusiasts of Impressionist art, particularly Van Gogh, Monet and Renoir, so this was a no-brainer.
Unfortunately, it took longer than we anticipated to get through the Orsay Museum because right in the middle of our visit, there was a bomb scare and the entire museum had to be evacuated for about an hour. What apparently caused the bomb squad to be called in was a visitor's backpack that had been left unattended. When no one came to claim the backpack after the museum made several announcements about it, the bomb squad was called in as a matter of course, and the building was cleared out. The odd thing was, the entire incident was treated with great nonchalance by the French (and other Europeans), who filed out very calmly and seemed almost inured by the "inconvenience", accepting it as part of the price of living in Paris in a post-9/11 world.
The incident made me wonder two things: (1) Would Americans react the same way as the French, and accept such intrusions into their tourism ventures? and (2) Why don't American museums have the same level of security as those in Europe? Something as simple as an unattended backpack caused a major museum to call in a bomb squad and evacuate the building; they obviously were taking no chances. Do we take the same precautions here? My perception is that the U.S. is gradually sliding back toward the level of complacency we were in before 9/11. Not that we aren't more diligent than before, but we definitely do not react to events the same way as the Orsay Museum did – and we sure as hell should.
Anyhow, after the bomb squad gave the all-clear, we finished our tour of the Musée d'Orsay, had lunch at a nice little Parisian bistro and then walked down to the Musée Rodin, which has Rodin's works exhibited both inside his old studio (a hotel) and outside in the surrounding rose-filled gardens. It's a wonderful little museum, hardly ever crowded, and contains a complete chronological history of Rodin's artistic career. If you like sculpture, you really need to visit this place, as it displays his most famous works: The Thinker, The Kiss, Balzac, The Gates of Hell, et al. Unfortunately, we ran out of film right after we arrived, so we didn't get photos of anything except The Thinker. Oh, well. Here are the photos of Orsay and Rodin, anyway.
 The Four Parts of the World Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux 1867-72 |
 The Birth of Venus Alexandre Cabanel 1863 |
 Luncheon on the Grass Edouard Manet 1863 |
 Poppies, near Argenteuil Claude Monet 1873 |
 Whistler's Mother James Whistler 1871 |
 Dance at the Moulin de la Galette Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1876 |
 Michelle covers Gabriel's ears from the sirens |
 St. Lazare Station Claude Monet 1877 |
 A Dance in the Country Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1883 |
 A Dance in the City Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1883 |
 Woman with Parasol I Claude Monet 1886 |
 Woman with Parasol II Claude Monet 1886 |
 Self-Portrait, St.-Remy Vincent Van Gogh 1889 |
 Van Gogh's Room at Arles Vincent Van Gogh 1889 |
 Midday Vincent Van Gogh 1890 |
 Houses of Parliament Claude Monet 1904 |
 Blue Water Lillies Claude Monet 1916 |
 Japanese Bridge Claude Monet 1899 |
 Gabriel munching on a croissant at a bistro |
 The gardens of the Musée Rodin |
 The Thinker Auguste Rodin 1881 |
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