We love Europe – so much. And one of the aspects of Europe is that its history provides an endless array of activities, locations, variety and compact way of discovering the world and its history. Everywhere you turn, you’ll find something new and fascinating, especially if you read, investigate and prepare for your visit there. It can often feel overwhelming, but once the initial jitters disappear, you’ll be drawn in forever and will long to go back, again and again.
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One of the skills that Europe has is repurposing. After, over the centuries, so many skirmishes, battles and outright wars, Europe is constantly being remodeled, whether it asks for it or not. And, part of that process is reuse. If a building has been damaged or even leveled, the Europeans find a way to make it viable again, and sometimes with stunning originality.
One such building is the Orsay Museum in Paris. Once a stunning rail station (the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900) and located next to the Seine river. Built on the site of the Palais d’Orsay, its central location was convenient for commuting travelers.[4] The station was constructed for the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans and finished in time for the 1900 Exposition Universelle to the design of three architects: Lucien Magne, Émile Bénard and Victor Laloux.
The Gare d’Orsay design was considered to be an “anachronism.”[5] Since trains were such a modern innovation for the time architects and designers alike expected a building that would embody the modern traits of this new mode of transportation. Gare d’Orsay instead gained inspiration from the past for the concept of the facade to the point of masking the cutting-edge technology within. It was the terminus for the railways of southwestern France until 1939.
Since, then it has become the Musée d’Orsay, focusing on the vast and groundbreaking Impressionist art movement. Enjoy the Musée d’Orsay’s fantastic collection of Impressionist art with this day-ticket.
As well as seeing paintings by Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Seurat, Van Gogh and more, you’ll also have access to exhibitions on photography, graphic art, architecture, sculptures, and objets d’art.
The museum building itself is a highly photogenic ex-train station with a Beaux-Arts façade and an interior iron skeleton. In the square nearby, you’ll see the six sculptures built on the occasion of the 1900 International Expo, each representing a different continent.
Click here to book your visit to the Musée d’Orsay.
Some content courtesy of Wikipedia.org
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