The Day of Museums

Today (Thursday, April 13) is what I am calling The Day of Museums. The travellers were treated to some of the most famous museums, and most famous works of art in the history of our world.

Our day started off with an early wake up call, and a breakfast of baguettes, croissants, orange juice, coffee, yogurt and oranges. We ate breakfast, and hopped on the subway to get into Paris (our hotel is on the outskirts – not in Paris itself).

Once our subway ride was over, we trekked it through the grounds of the Louvre, past the famous glass pyramid, toward the Arc de Triomphe. After about 10 minutes of walking, we arrived at the Musee d’Orangerie. This is an impressionist museum, and it houses one of the most famous works by Claude Monet – his Water Lilies. The museum has several rooms, two of them housing 360 degree paintings of the waterlilies, that represent different times of the day. It is as if, as you travel along the painting, you are travelling through time, and looking at his garden at Giverny, for a full day cycle. The Orangerie also hosted many paintings of famous artists like Gaugin, Cezanne, Matisse, Van Gogh, and many more.

We finished up with the Impressionists, and hiked our way back to the Louvre. We had limited time there, so many of the travellers made their way to the big 3 exhibits (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory). Others covered less ground, but were impressed by the size of some of the paintings, and the detail of many of the sculptures.

After the Louvre, we received our marching orders, and headed to the Musee d’Orsay. This is a museum that is housed in a beautiful old train station close to the Louvre. Here we saw many sculptures and some famous paintings. For my tastes, one of the highlights was seeing Van Gogh’s Self Portrait, and getting to see some works by Renoir.

After a self guided tour of the Musee d’Orsay, we were back on the subway and headed to the Mont Martre area. We walked past the famous Moulin Rouge, and it seemed most travellers were not familiar with this landmark. We then made a long, slow, trek up Mont Martre to the area where many Parisian artists of the late 1800s and early 1900s spend much of their time painting views of the city. We stopped into a nice café style restaurant for dinner, then the travellers had some free time to visit the local shops, and to go to see the Cathedrale du Sacre Couer (Sacred Heart Cathedral). This is a church that is perched high atop Mont Martre, and is a gathering place for locals that gives an incredible view of Paris.

After Sacre Couer, we hopped back on the subway and made our way back to the hotel for a midnight lights out. In discussing the day with other chaperones we had step counters that ranged from around 22,000 steps and 19 kms walked, to 24,000 steps and 21 kms walked. Oddly, the students seemed a little tired after the Day of Museums.