Luggage storage near Musée d'Orsay

The Musée d’Orsay is one of the most popular art museums in Paris. Located on the south west bank of the River Seine in the 7th arrondisement, this museum and gallery is housed in a beautiful old railway station in the Beaux-Arts style, the building, built between 1898 and 1900, is as beautiful on the outside as many of the wonderful artistic masterpieces are on the inside. The old railway station, the Gare d’Orsay, was constructed just in time for the 1900 Paris Exposition, the work of architects Lucien Magne, Émile Bénard, and Victor Laloux. It was built on the site of the Palais d’Orsay, which briefly housed the Council of State but was largely destroyed when it was burned by the soldiers of the Paris Commune. Over the course of the 20th century, the station’s short platforms became unsuitable for newer, longer trains that travelled long distances around the country and Europe. After 1939, it was used only for suburban services and became a large post office during World War Two. By 1970, it had become somewhat redundant as a train station, and plans were approved to demolish the beautiful building; this plan was successfully blocked. Instead, the building was listed as one of the country’s Historic Monuments. Then, the idea was formulated to turn the old building into a new art museum. In 1978, a competition was launched for the rights to design 20,000 square meters of floor space over four levels to form this new museum. The competition was won by Pierre Colboc, Renaud Bardon, and Jean-Paul Philippon, while the Italian architect Gae Aulenti was chosen to design the interior decoration, arrangement, furniture, and fittings of the museum. The arrangement of galleries she designed is very thoughtful and extends over the three main levels, which are located under the atrium of the museum. At ground level, a central nave was formed from the surrounding stone structures that used to form the building's platforms when it was a train station. The structures of the nave divide the vast sculpture and gallery spaces and create orderly units for viewing what’s on display. President Francois Mitterrand opened the museum officially in December 1986. Nowadays, the museum houses some of the most important works from a range of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists, mainly French, between 1848 and 1914. Masterpieces from Morisot, Sisley, Monet, Manet, Seurat, Renoir, Degas, van Gogh, and Cézanne are housed in the museum. There is also a collection of sculptures from the most famous sculptors of the 19th century; the museum houses over 2,200 works from the likes of Rodin, Gaugin, and Maillol. With such esteemed and beautiful works on display from some of the most famous artists and sculptors in history and being in such a central location in the city, it’s no surprise that the museum is incredibly popular with tourists visiting Paris. In 2022, 3.2 million visitors passed through the museum, down from 3.6 million in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, it’s a hugely busy, popular destination, so it’s advised to pre-book a ticket or try to go at an off-peak time!