Museums, Museums, and More Museums

How many museums does Paris have? Museums are EVERYWHERE in Paris. See an old impressive looking building, it's probably a museum. Paris has over 150 of them! Some are humongous like the Musee du Louvre with 35,000 works of art (not just the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa) to the small but very interesting Paris history museum Musee Clavernet (everything you wanted to know about the French Revolution was a couple of blocks from our apartment). Besides the largest Leonardo da Vinci collection, the Louvre has sculptures by Michelangelo, paintings by Rembrandt, and every artist you've ever (or never) heard of. The museum was the French royal palace until Louis XIV decided it wasn't big enough and built Versailles (what kind of complex do you think he was dealing with) so just the rooms themselves are a work of art. Our favourite was the Musee d'Orsay which is a beautiful old converted railway station with the best Impressionist collection. We found ourselves gazing at paintings by Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, and many others. For us the most incredible  art experience was sitting in the Musee de l'Orangerie and being surrounded by Monet's Water Lilies (Nympheas) paintings. Four paintings or rather murals cover the walls in two adjoining rooms. Everybody just sits in the middle quietly (or the bored security will shush you) gazing at them in an almost meditativeway. We did a lot of headscratching at the Musee Pompidou where everything from the artwork to the building itself was decidedly modern. Musee Rodin has his most famous sculptures (including the Thinker) set in a beautiful garden (something you can't do with paintings). From the Pantheon to the Opera House to all the cathedrals, the buildings as well as the contents are something to behold. And if museums aren't your thing, you can't get away from it because there is art and history on every street corner or in your neighbourhood park. Matthew's favourites were the Science Museum with its phenomenal Imax and hundred and one hands-on exhibits, and the Musee de l'Armee with all its armour and Napoleon's tomb. We were amazed at all the children in the museums but since they are free, what a way to get an education! Imagine your teacher saying that today you are going to learn about Impressionism so off you go to look at some Monets. We tried to pace ourselves in Paris but there was just too much so we hit the highlights and moved on.