This picture was taken at the Orsay Museum last night. It is an 1896 lithograph, Femme sur la dos (woman on her back), by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (part of his Elles collection). By the time Suz and I arrived here (for the less expensive admission fee after 4:15), this is how we felt!We have been on the go since she arrived on Saturday. So after walking miles again yesterday—to place des Vosges, the Deportation Memorial, onto and around the Ile Saint Louis (for the famous Berthillon ice cream), Cite area with the oldest flower market in Paris, the Left Bank, (Metro to) Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysees, across my favorite bridge Pont Alexandre III, and finally to Le Musee d’Orsay, needless to say, we were tuckered. And this after walking at least five miles plus each day preceding yesterday.
A few words about the Orsay. This has always been one of my favorite museums in Paris since my first trip in 1993; but I also love the Rodin Museum, the Marmottan—and now that I’m 
spending more time in the Louvre—well, it’s harder to pick a favorite. The building is fantastic in itself. Formerly a train station destined for demolition in the 1970s, it now displays French art from 1848-1914—the art created in the timeframe following the works in the Louvre. (The semi-circular windows at the top of the building were installed to allow the escape of rising steam from the steam-powered train engines in use at that time.)Most of my favorite pieces of art are in the Impressionists’ halls; although I also enjoy some of the statues (Rodin's and his muse, Camille Claudel's) and the Grand Ballroom, which was one of France’s most popular nightspots when the Orsay hotel was still here. (Unfortunately, that was closed last night.) Some of the Impressionists displayed are Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, van Gogh, Cezanne, Sisley, and Pissarro. Conservative art and paintings from the early realism period include Couture, Courbet, Millet, and many others. Unfortunately, we didn’t give the museum the time it deserves last night but since the Orsay isn’t going anywhere, maybe another day…
So today, as you can appreciate, we’re going to take it easier—until we see the sun poke out or something… A trip to the grocery store to buy some bottles of wine (less than 4 euros a bottle) is the only thing on our list. 
PS – This picture taken through one of the clocks on the front of the old train station, although hard to appreciate in this blog, shows the butte of Montmartre displaying its jewel, the church of Sacre-Coeur.
PS – This picture taken through one of the clocks on the front of the old train station, although hard to appreciate in this blog, shows the butte of Montmartre displaying its jewel, the church of Sacre-Coeur.
