My wife and I will soon be in Paris. We would like to visit the Orangerie Museum on Monday and the Orsay Museum on Tuesday. The RS Paris guidebook indicates that we can get a timed entry to the Orangerie Museum on Monday for free and then when we arrive we can purchase a Combo ticket for the Orsay Museum. I cannot find a way to get a timed entry for the Orangerie for free. Everything I see at the Orangerie Museum seems to require that I purchase a ticket. And what about the Orsay Museum? Can I reserve a timed entry for the next day now and then pay for entry with the Combo-ticket we purchased at the Orangerie Museum? Any help would be appreciated.
Michael
I found this year-old thread about the combo ticket. Apparently you can only buy it onsite at the museums, not online so that is not always useful.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/combo-tickets-for-orsay-and-orangerie
I went thru and did a dummy booking using the ticketing website for the Orangerie. I chose the "Free of charge" reservation which is what you would pick if you were using a Museum Pass. I can get all the way to the calendar of dates and picking a random date in May there were plenty of times available.
Here is the Orangerie ticketing website:
https://billetterie.musee-orangerie.fr/en-GB/home-orangerie
For the Orsay, I would book as if it were a Museum Pass ticket needing a "free reservation".
It might only cost you a few euros more to buy a Carte Blanche card. This is a one year membership for the Orsay Museum which also gives you free access to the Orangerie. This card gives you access to a dedicated entrance to the Orsay. I paid 79 euros for the card which gives unlimited access for me and a guest.
I successfully made an Orangerie free timed entry slot this week by selecting the “Musée de l'Orangerie - Free of charge Reservation” drop down selection, in order to be able and to buy the COMBO Orangerie-Orsay ticket at the Orangerie desk upon arrival. No issues.
This combo ticket is around €20- different than and way less expensive than the Carte Blanche which is a whole separate thing.
From what I’ve read on the Orsay website you don’t need to make a timed entry reservation there; they have a specific line for combo ticket holders.
Once you get to the Orsay, per their website, join “Queue C1: visitors with tickets without time slots and without the need to make a reservation
-Paris Museum Pass
-Combined Orsay/Orangery tickets”
That will be you!
Enjoy!
It's been 11+ years since we visited the Orangerie Museum, so things will be different.
1) half of it was closed
2) it's not my style
3) there was nothing there that would make me think of going.
The Orsay is 100% the opposite. I've returned to it and will continue to!
RickFan or Michael, have you been to Paris, and did the method that RickFan described work? I should reserve a free timeslot for Orangerie, and then just go to the ticket desk after going into the timed-entry line to purchase the combo ticket?
If we already bought our D’Orsay tickets, is the reduced price for the Orangerie not an option now?
Smallsea, that’s my understanding based on what Rick writes in his 2024 Paris book and my research. The proof will be in the pudding next month when I go. Will report back!
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Regarding the last poster, I don’t think since you’ve already gotten your Orsay ticket that you’ll be able to make changes now but I’m not certain. You could try emailing the Orsay.
Confirming that the aforementioned process (and what Rick outlines in most recent Paris guidebook) worked perfectly today - I booked an Orangerie free timed entry slot by selecting the “Musée de l'Orangerie - Free of charge Reservation” drop down selection, in order to be able and to buy the COMBO Orangerie-Orsay ticket at the Orangerie desk in person upon arrival. No issues. The cost was €20.
I can then go to the Orsay within the next 6 days with special skip-the-line access. The combo ticket saves you €8.
On a separate note for those buying regular Orsay tix… the Orsay timed tickets are sold out for days so definitely reserve ahead!
Thanks so much for reporting back RickFan!
Yes, thanks RickFan ! This will be helpful for so many people !
My pleasure! Happy to help the forum when the forum has helped me!!