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The Orsay and Orangerie Museums are the homes of my favorite group of artists, the Impressionists: Renoir, Monet, Manet, Cezanne and others. The impressionists', seemingly, carelessly, splattered and splashed canvases made it easy to understand why the established artists of the 19th century were outraged, shocked and insulted. They wanted to ride these, "No talent, messy, lazy dabblers" out of town on a rail. Such departure from the laboriously detailed realism to which they had devoted their lives was a disgrace to the name of art. You can’t get any more wrong than that. This is a picture taken through the back of one of the two large clocks in The Orasy Museum. The view is north across the Seine. 
Of course these museums house art of other styles and periods. It is difficult to take your eyes away from the beauty of "The Birth of Venus" painted by Alexander Cabanel in 1863. The same can be said for numerous other works, for sure. 
The panels of Monet's water lilies, at the Orangerie, I must admit, were disappointing. They, like the "Mona Lisa" in the Louvre were much easier to appreciate in reproductions. The “Mona Lisa” is quite small, behind glass and roped off so that you can only get within about 10 feet. And then there was a huge crowd. This is far from an ideal environment for experiencing great art!  I
f your levels of creativity are waning, these visits will get you going again…or nothing will. Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, "Le Dance" 
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