A Day in Paris - Museums, Views and Memories

Hello. Today, as you might have guessed from the title I decided to recount my Paris adventures. Recently I went to Paris and stayed at a friend’s place. Here’s the view from Maria's house...

The weather wasn’t bad. There was no rain. When we went out we first decided to walk to a museum. On the way some people mistook me for a tourist and tried to sell me a miniature Eiffel Tower figurine for 1 euro. Yes, I’d say be careful here, especially with your bags. There are many pickpockets around. We had arrived at the most touristic parts of Paris.

Maria told me that the road leading to the tower on the left used to be open for vehicles, but they closed this area for the Olympics. Now only buses and police cars circulate here. People can now walk comfortably and take photos. The Olympic rings still stand in the middle, reminding us of past events. Also, a bit further to the left I noticed a Christmas market.

They had removed the Olympic rings that were previously hanging on the Eiffel Tower because they couldn’t withstand winter cold, wind and other weather conditions. Right now there’s a different design up there. Meanwhile we also visited the Christmas market near the Eiffel Tower. Actually I think the main market was near the Louvre, but this one was a close alternative. As everywhere else they sell handmade items, clothes, bags, hot drinks, mulled wine and roasted chestnuts here. Quite interesting and cute things were on display.

As we continued you could immediately recognize the Orthodox church we came across. It has a somewhat unusual appearance, square-shaped, but its golden domes are very impressive. Nearby there is a monument dedicated to Princess Diana, who tragically lost her life in an accident. Opposite it stands this Orthodox church.

We continued directly on our path and our destination was the Orsay Museum. This is my third time coming to Paris and each time I looked for Impressionist works elsewhere. First I went to the Louvre, then randomly headed to the Orangerie. This time however, it was my third visit straight to the Musée d'Orsay.

We arrived at the Orsay Museum and got in line without tickets since naturally, we hadn’t purchased anything in advance. This building used to be an old train station. Maria said that the first floor is beautiful and that it’s clear this was once a station. Now, we had to wait in this entire queue.

Interesting fact: The full price for the museum ticket is 14 euros, without any discount. Also, there’s an audio guide available. While waiting in line, I hoped they accepted card payments and thankfully, there were no issues. Luckily, the line was moving quickly. After this old train station building was closed in a certain year, it was undecided what to do with it and eventually, it was transformed into a museum. We went up to the first floor and the top floor to examine the works of the Impressionist artists.

It’s clear that it used to be a station. you can tell from the gigantic clocks. Beautiful! I got myself an audio guide for just 4 euros. In this space where we were, there were many different sculptures.

We needed to go up to the fifth floor, where the Impressionists were located. There’s a kind of panoramic area here where you can approach and see the museum from above. Depending on whether it's open or not, we can view the scene from above. It looks great! I looked down at the museum from above. Since it was once a train station, the architecture is quite impressive. We returned to the area with the clocks and the exhibition here was beautiful.

By the way, you can also shop with free tickets. Some of the items I saw here confused me. I thought they were real paintings, but actually, they were souvenirs that could be purchased.

Wow, wow, wow! Look, there’s a huge window here, like a clock. Apparently, since we’re on the top floor, these windows offer views of Paris. Everyone is taking photos. What an amazing sight. Now I can capture the stunning view of Paris for you.

Let me share what I heard through my headphones from the audio guide: these two pieces are the only surviving fragments of Monet's large painting titled Luncheon on the Grass. The original painting was over 6 meters wide, but it was damaged and only these two pieces were salvaged. You can see a sketch of this painting at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Monet had left this painting with the owner of the house he rented for a while and when he got it back, it had been damaged. So, he cut out and saved only these two pieces. The painting was 6 meters wide! That’s the story behind it...

I really love paintings like this. The details created with strong brushstrokes are very impressive... I have a similar copy of a painting hanging at home. I could stare at it for hours. Then I continued to look at Claude Monet’s works.

Here, we moved on to Anuar's works in the Impressionist style. They were beautiful and interesting! You can look closely, especially focusing on the edges... If I’m not mistaken, when you look closely, you can clearly see the brushstrokes. But when viewed from afar, the entire painting comes together as a whole and you realize how beautiful it is.

We entered a hall where Monet’s works were displayed. Amid the crowd, I spotted the painting Water Lilies. Actually, the complete series of Water Lilies can be found in another museum, the Orangerie, but here a small part of it is on display. Monet painted the same subject repeatedly in different ways. For example, he painted the Rouen Cathedral many times: different in the evening, different during the day... Because capturing the effect of light on objects was very important to Monet. I think he painted this cathedral multiple times, achieving a different result each time because the light, the moment and the perspective changed. That’s why every painting offers a unique appearance.

Now let me tell you about this painting: Monet was actually quite a poor painter, but he wanted to try his hand at portraiture. Hiring models during that period was very expensive, but he still wanted to paint people. So, he bought a good mirror, placed it in front of him and said, If I can paint myself and if I can accurately reflect even my red hair, then I can paint any model. And so, he created this painting. But he painted himself not just because he lacked money, but because he wanted to paint people instead of dealing with abstract subjects. So, he bought a mirror and painted himself.

Right across from the clocks, there’s an elegant café. Eating here is probably quite expensive, so we passed by. We went to the next hall, but generally, eating in front of the clocks looked really pleasant.

After leaving the museum, we arrived at the center of Paris and tried to look at the Christmas window displays. They were designed for children and each window resembled a train carriage. For example, it said Carriage 52 on top and inside there was a display. I tried to see what it was amidst the crowd. Here, a woman was collecting donations with a bell-ringing box. She stood next to the train carriages and rang her bell along the street. We walked a little further. There were signs like Platform, Departure in 1865 etc. We were heading towards Galerie Faÿs. Maria said there was an interesting Christmas tree inside.

Everything was decorated, all lit up. There was a Christmas tree on the street and another one visible from afar. Naturally, the entrance was crowded with people. First, we examined the window displays, then we looked at the Christmas tree inside.

There was something more interesting here: a display shaped like a snow globe. According to Maria, this year’s window displays weren’t as impressive as in previous years. I agree with her, but we still took a look.

We went up to the gallery’s terrace to watch the Opera and the Eiffel Tower. There’s a statue here and everyone is taking pictures. Of course, there were plenty of tourists around.

The next day, we visited a museum related to fashion. We entered the first room, which was filled with newspaper clippings, commemorative dates and similar items. We went in and explored the place. We saw sections like the Autumn-Winter 1978 collection and the Spring-summer 2000s collection.

Later, after walking a bit we unexpectedly arrived at the Naval Ministry Museum. Frankly since it was cold outside, we decided to enter the museum to warm up. The audio guide made me happy too. On the second floor such a beautiful Christmas wreath was hanging.

The design was quite simple and minimalist because, in the past rooms like these were often used just to receive guests. Instead of excessive decoration, a simple appearance was preferred.

An interesting detail: Small pieces of flower branches were placed on the chairs so no one would sit on them. This subtly implies that these chairs are part of the exhibit and shouldn’t be sat on. A nice idea!

Then we looked into the study. Dueling pistols were displayed here. There was also an old bathroom and a dining room.

This is the guest room. In the X century nobles were very fond of gambling, especially games like lotto, backgammon and another game whose name I can’t remember.

There’s a hole in the window here and it turns out this is a gun sight hole. So, when defending this building during an enemy attack, they could fire through this hole. Then we moved on to the women’s room. The hostess's dresses were visible. In the 19th century the popularity of decorative small dogs increased. Instead of hunting dogs, people started buying small decorative dogs like pugs. The doghouse here was designed to match the interior decoration.

We moved to the next room. From here, you can see the view of the balcony. It was in this very room that Marie Antoinette's last words were recounted as she was being taken to the guillotine. She accidentally stepped on the executioner’s foot and apologized. This is considered her last statement.

As you move from room to room, the narration in your headphones automatically changes depending on where you are. I think there are some sensors here. I don’t know exactly how it works, but if I went back and entered another room, I would start hearing the story of that room. Special music also plays for each room.

The royal treasury used to be kept here. During the Revolution, the revolutionaries broke this window and carried away the treasures throughout the night. No one realized what was happening. By the time the noise was heard, almost everything had already been moved. Only a small portion returned to the state after the Revolution. We arrived at a beautiful golden corridor. There’s an exit from here. You can see the view of Paris from the balcony.

I really enjoyed this interesting museum that we entered randomly and spontaneously. If you haven’t been here before, I highly recommend it. It’s called the Musée de la Marine (Naval Ministry Museum) and it’s located right across from the Louvre.