Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France - SpottingHistory.com

The Musée d'Orsay was built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin and Van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986.

The museum building was originally a railway station, Gare d'Orsay, 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. It was the terminus for the railways of southwestern France until 1939.

By 1939 the station's short platforms had become unsuitable for the longer trains that had come to be used for mainline services. After 1939 it was used for suburban services and part of it became a mailing centre during World War II. It was then used as a set for several films, such as Kafka's The Trial adapted by Orson Welles, and as a haven for the Renaud–Barrault Theatre Company and for auctioneers, while the Hôtel Drouot was being rebuilt.

User Reviews

Martin Ewen (38 days ago)
Superb museum with plenty to see. We spent over 4 hours here and thoroughly enjoyed it. Also had our breakfast and dinner as well which was really nice. Going back this April as a lot changes every now and again, and will have changed.

Tom Marvel (39 days ago)
Awesome museum experience for a reasonable price. Had a mixture of everything from paintings to sculptures to home furniture. I'd highly recommend buying tickets in advance as the line to buy them at the door can get extremely long. If you make it there without tickets, they do have free wifi and you can purchase them directly from your phone.

Andy Duvall (54 days ago)
There are many reasons why this is one of the most important museums in the world, and stands out even in Paris where there is so much to do and see. Beautiful architecture and breathtaking artwork of course, but the ambiance and even the restaurant are noteworthy. Save yourself some hassle and a long wait in line by buying your tickets online for a small fee. I bought mine online with my phone when I arrived, and walked to the reserved ticket entrance bypassing a line of a couple hundred people.

dillyjanjan (2 months ago)
I visited this Museum with my toddler sleeping in a stroller. I was really concerned that there would be only steps but this place had ramps on either side of the exhibits. How wonderful. It wasn't crowded. We didn't even buy tickets online. The queues moved quickly. It was a fantastic experience even though my son missed everything. I would recommend this place for ppl with small kids. there is also a food stall outside with the best sandwiches.

Artem Aleksandrovich Kost (3 months ago)
It is located parallel to the Louvre but on the opposite side of the Seine river. I recommend to go there through the bridge of love. In my opinion it is way better than the Louvre! It has several modern masterpieces of famous artists, and a dedicated hall to each artist. The atmosphere is quiet (as opposed to the Louvre) and relaxing. The only drawback is that there is no English translation to the descriptions of the pictures... so you have to take the audio guides (which don't cover all the exponents in the museum). All in all it is one of the best museum in Paris!!!!!

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Beersel Castle

The moated castle at Beersel is one of the few exceptionally well-preserved examples of medieval fortifications in Belgium. It remains pretty much as it must have appeared in the 15th century. Remarkably, it was never converted into a fortified mansion. A visitor is able to experience at first-hand how it must have felt to live in a heavily fortified castle in the Middle Ages.

The castle was built in around 1420 as a means of defence on the outer reaches of Brussels. The tall, dense walls and towers were intended to hold any besiegers at bay. The moat and the marshy ground along its eastern, southern and western edges made any attack a formidable proposition. For that reason, any attackers would have chosen its weaker northern defences where the castle adjoins higher lying ground. But the castle was only taken and destroyed on one occasion in 1489, by the inhabitants of Brussels who were in rebellion against Maximilian of Austria.

After being stormed and plundered by the rebels it was partially rebuilt. The pointed roofs and stepped gables are features which have survived this period. The reconstruction explains why two periods can be identified in the fabric of the edifice, particularly on the outside.

The red Brabant sandstone surrounds of the embrasures, now more or less all bricked up, are characteristic of the 15th century. The other embrasures, edged with white sandstone, date from the end of the 15th century. They were intended for setting up the artillery fire. The merlons too are in white sandstone. The year 1617 can be clearly seen in the foundation support on the first tower. This refers to restorations carried out at the time by the Arenberg family.

Nowadays, the castle is dominated by three massive towers. The means of defence follow the classic pattern: a wide, deep moat surrounding the castle, a drawbridge, merlons on the towers, embrasures in the walls and in the towers, at more or less regular intervals, and machiolations. Circular, projecting towers ensured that attacks from the side could be thwarted. If the enemy were to penetrate the outer wall, each tower could be defended from embrasures facing onto the inner courtyard.

The second and third towers are flanked by watchtowers from which shots could be fired directly below. Between the second and third tower are two openings in the walkway on the wall. It is not clear what these were used for. Were these holes used for the disposing of rubbish, or escape routes. The windows on the exterior are narrow and low. All light entering comes from the interior. The few larger windows on the exterior date from a later period. It is most probable that the third tower - the highest - was used as a watchtower.

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