Musee de l'Orangerie

In the Rick Steves Paris guidebook, he says to allow an hour for his self-guided museum tour plus more time if there are special exhibits.

I would think RS self guided tour would fine unless you know nothing about Monet or everything about Monet. Be sure to book timed entry.

I'd say it depends on how long you want to sit and stare at the lovely water lilly paintings. I usually am there about 1 1/2 hours. One hour to immerse myself in those lovely paintings and a 1/2 hour for everything else.

I am amazed at how bad his sight was at the time...almost blind and almost color blind.

Definitely worth the time and money. During my visit in 2018 I found the gift shop excellent so allow an extra half hour for that if you're buying gifts.

Several years ago we dropped in mid-late afternoon and pretty much had the place to ourselves. Plan for about an hour.

It is two fairly small round rooms encircled with the waterlily series. I think we were in and out in about 20 minutes.

I agree with most of the comments. It's become one my favorite museums in Paris. I personally think an hour would be good enough, although, like spending time staring at The David, in Florence, you can easily do the same in L'Orangerie.

Depending on your interests, there’s more to l‘Orangerie than the Water Lilies on the main floor. On the lower level there’s a nice permanent collection of modern art as well as two temporary exhibition galleries.

Every time we go there’s something interesting down there. Last time it was a Modigliani show and the time before that we saw a great German Expressionism exhibit. For upstairs and downstairs, I‘d give it an hour at least. I’m not a guided tour kind of person but it’s a small enough Museum that it can be done self-guided. I would get a timed entrance.

What JenS said. There is a permanent collection that goes way beyond just the water lilies., including Renoir as I recall. I could spend more time there than upstairs with the water lilies.

Hi Cindy K, not to get off topic but under "other thoughts and comments" -- if you are a fan of Monet and have some extra time, go to the Marmottan Museum too. It's the largest collection of Monets in the world and shown in a very lovely, impressive setting.

This too is under "other thoughts and comments."

I wouldn't go by what's written in the RS guidebook because these were originally written a few decades ago. While the two Monet rooms haven't changed much, the rest of the Museum has become very well labeled in both English and French. The collection, originally owned by famous Paris art dealers, is an outstanding, intimate, well-documented introduction to modern art. In addition, as has been pointed out, the exhibitions are outstanding. So the length of time you spend depends on how deeply you want to dive. You can take a quick look at the two rooms, or you could spend another hour in the permanent collection, and yet another hour if the temporary exhibit is your thing.

Theyve got a good special exhibits. Check out the website.

Yes, we spent more time in the "other" exhibit halls than we did with the water lilies. I'd allow at least 2 hours.

Thank you for providing all the valuable insights and information. Much appreciated. Tickets purchased!