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Orangerie Museum

Has this Paris icon re-opened? Who has been to it since the re-opening. It was one of my favorite afternoon experiences in Paris while I was "stuck" there for work for a while. I was disappointed when I took my family there two years ago and it was closed. What is the new look like?

Posted by
2091 posts

Yes! l'Orangerie re-opened in May 2006. It is definitely not to be missed!

Posted by
2030 posts

I was there 2 weeks ago -- lovely! Don't know what it was like before being remodeled, but it's great now.

Posted by
11 posts

Honestly, even after having taken an Art History class in college (long ago) and seeing Waterlilies so many times in books, it still took my breath away when I saw it. This is a fantastic museum and it is packed with art from the masters. One great tip--it is open late on Friday evenings when most other museums are closed, so it's a great time to visit! You mentioned that you'd like to take your family. We took our two girls (11 & 8) and they really enjoyed it. The audio guide is O.K. but mostly describes the paintings without too much "story" to them. I was glad we got a few books from the library about Monet, Cezanne, etc. before we went.

Posted by
1 posts

I didn't visit before the re-design, but I thought it was an absolutely amazing museum when we visited in summer 2006. A couple of the galleries can be a bit crowded with very narrow pathways, but some of the rooms are breathtakingly beautiful with the murals and the designs of the rooms. It's the perfect side trip from the overly-hectic Louvre.

Definitely get the Paris museum pass. We went to the Orangerie shortly after it re-opened and there was a massive line outside the building. The pass allowed us to bypass the line and go straight in.

Posted by
360 posts

It's very modern. To me it's much different than how I remembered the former one except for the waterlilies section. I miss the feel of the old building - almost like a house. Now the building just feels like another museum although very nice, of course. It's still a small museum which I like & I love the pictures exhibited there. I remembered a few of them from the old museum.
Hope you have a chance to go soon. I like it enough to go each trip to paris. One thing is that it opens late - noon, I think. I wanted my sister to see itl ast spring when we had just a few days in Paris, but we were early & went to the Louvre instead.

Posted by
22 posts

Hi Bill,
My husband and I were there last October and it was amazing. I have always been a huge fan of Monet (we also were able to go to Giverny and tour the house and gardens) and it was all I expected and more. The paintings actually brought tears....well worth the time spent :)