Museum D'Orsay

I would suggest that when you enter, you walk allllllll the way to the back, and find the escalators that go up to the fifth floor. There, you can start with the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist halls.

Then you can come back down and see the Manet - Degas exhibition.

Indeed, trying to see the entire Musée d'Orsay would be overwhelming. But you can enjoy the incredible architecture and see the "star" sites by focusing like this instead of tiring yourselves working your way up to the Impressionists via gallery by gallery....

It really depends on where your art interests lie. The d'Orsay is filled with Impressionist artwork—which I love. On the other hand, there are many rooms in the permanent collection that hold very little interest for me. But Manet and Degas are giants in Impressionism, so I personally wouldn't miss that exhibit if I were there at that time.

TBH, I felt the Manet-Degas exhibition was a bit gloomy when I saw it last month. I vote for Kim’s suggestion!! Do the Manet-Degas at the end if you have time and energy.

For what it is worth, I was going to suggest exactly what Kim did above :-)

the Manet exhibit is good but not great. Worth doing but I'd prioritize the impressionist collection if you have not seen it before. You can probably do both.

I like Kim's suggestion as well. We loved the Orsay--we went twice for 2-3 hours each time. I spent far more time in some areas than others, and was able to see everything I wanted to--some of it twice.

Thank you everyone for your replies! This group has been so helpful for my trip planning. I really appreciate it.

It sounds like even though I purchased an advanced ticket for the Manet/Degas exhibition that we will be able to walk to the back and go straight to the 5th floor to see the Impressionism works before it gets too crowded. One of my daughters has an interest in sculpture, so we can head down to the 2nd floor after and then to the Manet/Degas exhibition if time (and energy) permits it.

The Manet/Degas exhibition is incredible, but it is also incredibly crowded thus hard to absorb the information and nuance. One of the top paintings in the museum is in the exhibition, and I would tell anyone to go through just to see "Olympia".

I saw this exhibit last week, can only imagine the crowds this summer.

We did the sculptures, the exhibit, and floor 5. A great visit and the lines / crowds were tolerable.