Immersed in Art

Recently I was fortunate enough to visit Paris for a few days, where I totally immersed myself in the vast array of art on offer.

First stop was the Louvre. What an incredible museum and art gallery! The architecture was sublime mixing ancient and contemporary styles, with I.M. Pei's fabulous glass pyramid in the centre of the courtyard. The building is immense, and to fully appreciate all it has to offer you really do need to visit over a number of days.

The Mona Lisa was a must! However, there is so many incredible works of art, sculptures, crown jewels and antiquities within it's walls, the Louvre really does have something for everyone. The funnel to the Mona lisa was less fun, and the limited time to observe it's splendour before you were cajolled out of the way for the next onlookers was disappointing. However, I have seen her now so I can die happy!

Next up was the Musee D'Orsay, which was less formal than the Louvre, and situated further along the Seine. This was previously designed and built to be a train station however, on completion it was felt to be too small, so was put to other uses, most recently the museum.

Here you will find the impressionists, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh to name a few.

Finally, we stepped into the Monet rooms at the Musee de L'Orangerie. What an amazing experience and totally immersive. The silence in the room was really quite soothing and to sit and view the masterpieces within, was really quite emotive, and not like anything I've experienced before. It was serene and peaceful and allowed you to be absorbed into the painting, like you were sitting on the bank of these wonderful lakes, filed with water lillies. The way Monet ued brushstrokes to give a sense of depth was incredible, and made you feel like you could dive into these magnificent works of art. If you haven't been I would highly recommend.

Over the 3 days I lost count of the number of paintings, sculptures and artefacts I gazed at. I needed so much longer as I only managed about 60% of the Louvre, 75% of the Orsay and would have to go back and just sit and contemplate before Monets Waterlilies again. I will just have to plan another visit!