A two-day museum pass meant that for a change of pace, Ian and I had a bit of an itinerary for the first time on our trip. We had selected four museums ahead of time that we were interested in visiting, which made things even easier. While we'd already "been" to the Louvre (around the iconic and beautiful exterior) I'd been told by a few people that it was overwhelming, could feel like too much, and other smaller museums were recommended. And so, the Louvre was not on our list.
Instead, we hopped on the subway and made our way to Musee de l'Armee - the national military museum of France. We'd planned our timing to arrive just before the doors opened, and were pleasantly surprised to find no line up waiting. We were then unpleasantly surprised to see a sign saying there would be no entry until four hours later. At the bottom of the sign in fine print, seemingly added as an afterthought, was the notation that an entrance on the other side of the museum was open.
We ended up in line just after a tour bus arrived, but made it through security quicky and managed to separate ourselves from both that tour, and a highschool tour group. The museum has 500,000 artifacts (weapons, armour uniforms, paintings, objects) and the permanent collection is organized chronologically. We started on the second floor with Louis XIV - Napoleon (17th-19th century) as part of our tour-group-avoiding tactics. It would turn out to be only one of two areas we would explore, as this floor alone took us around 3 hours. Highlights included rifles and bayonets as they developed over the centuries, along with uniforms and armour, and the bed where Napoleon died in exhile (he was a fan of the beds used during his military campaigns, and was allowed to take two with him. There were also several media stations that showed the various battles that took place, always highlighting Napoleon's tactical actions when he took the battlefield. As I was very rusty on my 17th-19th century French history, this was much appreciated.
Knowing we had more to do in the day (including a second museum with a closing time), Ian and I transitioned from the main museum to Napoleon's Tomb. His remains were repatriated from Saint Helena (where he died in exile) in 1840. That's the same year planning for the tomb first began (and it would't be considered complete until 1861). And, it's quite the tomb. The open crypt is set two floors below a huge and beautifully painted dome. Circular stair cases bring you down to darkened doors flanked by two statues. Around the walls are carvings of the many accomplishments and victories attributed to Napoleon. The sarcophagus itself is massive, made of stone (which looks oddly plastic to me, but I'm aware it's actually a very expensive stone) sitting upon a base of green granite with is in turn atop a slab of black marble. It is, quite the tomb.
Our next stop was Musée d'Orsay, a museum built inside a former railway station. While Ian and I were on the lookout for Renoir, Monet, and Van Gogh, we made our way through mazes of many other artists on our way. Some with names that rang a bell while they work seemed unfamiliar, and others that I recognized visually only. I attribute some of this to playing the game Masterpiece in my youth (if you're not familiar with this game based on auctioning paintings and avoiding forgeries, that's probably normal). Ian and I shared quiet commentary as we enjoyed and critiqued the paintings. This included one artist who seemed to go from attempting and failing at drawing hands, to avoiding drawing hands, to creating a well done painting of just hands. I was quite proud of their accomplishment (despite having no recollection of their name).
We did of course manage to find some of the names and works we were searching for.
Plus a delightful rhino statue outside.
Our next day off museums started out with the Musée du Cluny, the French national museum of the middle ages. The building previously housed Roman baths until it was acquired by a the Cluny Abby in 1340, and rebuilt from the several times. Part of the baths are preserved, and we were able to walk around in the space. We made our way through the rooms, viewing many names statues in addition to preserved stained glass, a multitude of crosses and feels of religious imagery, and many reliquaries meant to host remains of importance (this included one for a foot, skull, and an umbilical cord...).
A highlight was definitely the set of tapestries called "The Lady and the Unicorn" that were created in Paris around 1500. Each one of them is over 10ft tall. Five are meant to represent the five senses, and the sixth is enscribed with "My only desire".
The fourth and final museum of our two day experience was Musée de l'Orangerie, an art gallery of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. The building actually originally built in 1852 to host citrus trees and protect them from the winter. Now however, there are no trees inside. Instead, this museum is well known for being the location of the permanent installation of Claude Monet's Water Lilles murals. They were gorgeous. The entry way read that Monet had intended the space to be for quiet reflection, and could visitors please refrain from speaking (which, wasn’t quite the experience of the busy place with chatting tourists, but that didn't take away from the walls lined with the artwork).
It’s been a busy few days since we arrived, and my sore feet can attest to how much we’ve wandered streets, explored museums, and taken in the big and little sights. There’s still more to go, as it’s Thursday morning, and before we head to Scotland on Sunday we’ve still got a couple more museums, the catacombs (I’ve already promised multiple people I won’t touch or attempt to take any bones, don’t worry), and of course a wedding to attend.
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