Well, here it is, my visit to l'Orangerie. First of all, take a look at the line. It was a super long wait, about 45 minutes, and I went without my coat. I hate checking my coat, so I thought, I would leave it at home. Bad idea. I froze and was more than a little anxious about catching a cold.
After the wait, I had to fight with the woman at the ticket office for my reduced fair because I do not have a card saying I am a teacher (teachers get in at a reduced rate to some museums, others are free). She was rather mad I only had an attestation from the university and not a professional card. Because I was feeling rather feisty, I told her I was upset about it too, but everything takes ages in France. I know, not the best approach when you want someone to do you a favor, in this case, letting me in for free, but I couldn't help it because I was cold and a little irritated from the windy, wet wait.
But all the hassle was worth it to see this. Monet's finest in a wonderful setting. I wish I could take everyone to this museum because just seeing pictures of how these panels are displayed is not enough. There are eight, huge wall length paintings of Monet's water lilies in beautiful white oval rooms with great light, even on a overcast day.
There was no way I could take any pictures that would do the rooms or the paintings justice. Apparently, Monet painted these in order that they be displayed in exactly the way they are displayed. The paintings are curved along with the wall. It was just fantastic museum experience. Honestly, I felt like I was surrounded by art and nature.
I have to also give a big thumbs up to the audio guide. I usually don't like using them because I find myself just listening to the words and not really looking at the paintings, but this is the one exception which I was glad I rented one because it told of how the museum was built and how it was redesigned to accommodate Monet's masterpieces.
I am definitely planning on going back to this museum if for no other reason than to just enjoy the Monet rooms. However, the permanent collection has a lot of nice paintings of Renior, Matisse, Cezanne, Picasso, Utrillo as well as another artist I know nothing about but who I found very appealing, Laurencin.
And just to end this post on a romantic note because Valentine's day is around the corner, The Kiss by Rodin which is in front of the entrance of the museum.
