Paris Is For Art Lovers

The exquisite French capital is filled with top notch art museums, classical architecture, thriving neighborhoods, massive cathedrals, and large parks. There’s just so much to see and do in Paris and almost all of it feels fancy. The main target of our visit was art and we definitely hit the bullseye often. When not in museums, we were soaking up all of the sights, sounds, and smells of various cathedrals, book stores, thrift shops, and bakeries. We did our best to experience as much as possible and just about wore ourselves out doing so. 

This was our second visit to Paris, but it’s been long enough that most everything felt new. Our debut trip was in the spring of 2018, a year before we retired. We spent 10 days exploring the city, trying to get a feel for what a “long stay” would be like. At the time, it was the longest we’d ever stayed in a single location. We fell in love with the city during that initial visit, so much so that we canceled a couple of day trips that we had planned in order to spend all of our time in Paris. We were excited to return and see if it lived up to our fond memories. And I’m happy to report that it’s still one of our favorites.

It’s mind blowing to me how many amazing sights are packed into the French capital. In almost every city we visit, we have to pace ourselves to spread the museums and activities throughout our stay. Not Paris. Here we rushed through as many as possible and even with 30 days, we weren’t able to see everything we wanted. The most notable site we missed this time was the Louvre. While we were among the masses fighting for a glimpse of the Mona Lisa back in 2018, we skipped it this time. The Louvre is mostly focused on the Old Masters, and our tastes run more modern, so it didn’t make the cut. I think that’s a testament to how much amazing art is on display throughout the city. Tough choices have to be made.

Holiday Season Timing

Our visit fell over Christmas and New Years, which I thought would result in fewer crowds due to the cold weather. But when we arrived on December 18th, it didn’t feel like the off season at all. There were throngs of tourists everywhere and lines stretched from many museums as far as in the summertime. Without exception, the busiest place was the newly restored Notre Dame cathedral. It had just reopened in early December after the fire that gutted it 5 years earlier. Leading up to Christmas it was so packed that we could barely walk through the area, let alone dream of making it inside. 

I was starting to believe that Paris is so popular that it doesn’t even have an off season. But once school resumed and the holidays ended around January 6th, we did see a noticeable drop in tourists. That gave us about 10 days where we could squeeze in some activities and museums that were just too crowded before, including Notre Dame and some of the more popular museums like the Orsay and Pompidou. These places were still busy of course, but at least we had a shot without a 2 hour line.

Our winter visit meant that the full beauty of the city was not on display. The numerous parks were less vibrant as the countless flower beds were torn up awaiting spring planting. The grassy lawns surrounding the Eiffel Tower were roped off as well. As such, we didn’t get to have a repeat picnic next to the most iconic landmark in the world, an experience we remembered so fondly from our first visit.

On the plus side, that lack of flowers and greenery was balanced with getting to delight in the seasonal joys. Along with the plentiful Christmas lights, there were multiple pop up Christmas markets throughout the city. These markets all had stands selling hot wine and roasted chestnuts, along with year round staples such as crepes and macarons.

We always knew we’d go to Paris at some point during our year in France, but we hadn’t planned on it being so early in the stay. Originally we were going to spend the winter in the south for more mild temperatures. Then we’d slowly work our way north while avoiding long travel times. This rough sketch put us in Paris sometime around April or May. But Katie found a great deal on an apartment that we couldn’t pass up. And there are super fast trains that run to Paris from every corner of France too, so covering the extra distance doesn’t actually take extra time. Assuming the trains run, that is.

Train Strike

Not too long after booking we learned that a train strike was planned to begin exactly one week before our travel date. The French transportation workers strike frequently enough that their plans are published in advance, often with both start and end dates. However, unlike most of the pre-planned strikes, this one was open ended. From the news articles that I read, it seemed like there were some major hurdles that might not be cleared right away. This had the potential to be a serious strike.

If it turned out that there was no train available to whisk us to Paris, we may have majorly screwed up our logistics. Our scheduled 3 hour train trip would turn into a very unpleasant 14 hour bus ride split over two days. To add even more pressure, our Paris Airbnb host was going to leave for his own holiday once we arrived, so if we were delayed by days because of the train strike, it would impact not only our plans but screw up his as well. Imagining this travel disruption was starting to cause me a fair amount of anxiety.

To solve this problem, I decided to buy FlixBus “insurance”. Several days before the strike I went ahead and purchased bus tickets for that 14 hour route. As much as I didn’t want to make the long trip by bus, at least we wouldn’t get shut out if the strike persisted leaving everyone to scramble for train alternatives. It wouldn’t be fun, but at least we’d get there. In the end, an agreement was reached before our travel date and we sped across the country by fast train as originally planned. Once I was sure our train would run, I did cancel the bus tickets for a small partial refund. The tickets originally cost $75.92 and I received a refund of $23.50. But I did sleep a lot better for that last week, which was good because I needed all of my energy for Paris.

Musée d’Orsay

Impressionism is my favorite art style, so naturally I loved the Orsay Museum. This was our second visit and it was just as amazing as the first time. Housed in a grand old train station, the massive ceiling and giant clocks make the space spectacular. Inside are some of the best works ever created by Van Gogh, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Seurat, and so many more. The famous pieces are truly great, but there are just as many that could be considered in the same class despite lacking the notoriety. The Orsay is a wealth of first rate artwork. We spent hours soaking it all in and I can’t wait to go back.

Our visit also coincided with a temporary exhibit highlighting the art of Gustave Caillebotte. Some of you may have seen his Paris In The Rain, which was borrowed from the Art Institute of Chicago for this exhibit. We really liked his paintings, but the space was a little too crowded for us to fully enjoy it. We spent as much time jockeying for position as we did absorbing the art. Even waiting until the “off season” didn’t help with this one. I would’ve loved to see it with about half the people, but c’est la vie. The entire exhibition will be moving to Los Angeles in February 2025 and to Chicago at the end of June, so mark your calendars if you’re in the Midwest or SoCal. 

Centre Pompidou

It’s hard to definitively say, but I think our visit to the Pompidou Museum was my favorite activity from our month in Paris. We were fortunate enough to catch their temporary Surrealism exhibit, which was an absolutely massive collection of artwork exploring the history and progression of the style. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a temporary exhibit with this scope. It must’ve covered 15 rooms and we spent almost two hours absorbing it all. I was somewhat indifferent to Surrealism before, but my mind is now changed. There was just so much interesting and thought-provoking art, and seeing it all together really worked to capture the spirit of the movement.

We also spent time enjoying their remarkable permanent collection afterwards. This is one of the top collections of modern art in the world, and it contains several of the best works ever created from Chagall, Matisse, and Picasso. We learned after the fact they are closing their doors this September for a 5 year renovation, so our timing was pretty great both in catching the Surrealism exhibit and seeing the museum at all.

Musée Marmottan Monet 

Housed in a converted mansion on the far west side of the city, the Marmottan Monet Museum is host to some masterful Monet paintings. And the collection is not limited to just Monet, as there are great pieces from many notable icons. Wandering through the rooms of this house gives a great feel to how some of this art may have been displayed before it became famous. The museum also introduced us to Berthe Morisot, widely considered the first female impressionist and a contemporary of Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro.

Musée d’Art Moderne 

The permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art is free and well worth seeing. But what really moved us was the paid access to their temporary exhibit on the history of the atomic bomb. The Atomic Age exhibit followed the timeline of the bomb from conception to execution. It was an extremely interesting combination of art and science, demonstrating how artists infatuated with the new scientific breakthroughs had incorporated that into their art. It captured a vast range of feelings from pride over the accomplishment to horror at the outcome.

Overall the exhibit was not an easy thing to witness. The toughest part was the art on display from survivors of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their portrayals of the aftermath were completely devastating. Horrors ranged from people attempting to dive into the river to escape the immense heat, seeing skin melt off, being the only survivor from their entire extended family, and many other travesties. I couldn’t bring myself to take pictures of it. It was just too sickening. But it was certainly a memorable and moving experience.

Musée Rodin

In most museums, sculpture is something I skip past to get to the paintings. In the Rodin Museum, it’s obviously the star. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that Auguste Rodin is arguably the most famous sculptor ever, but it was the most I’ve enjoyed sculpture as a medium. The varied setting helped too, with statues presented in both a garden and mansion. 

In addition to the actual sculptures, both of us were enthralled by a temporary exhibit covering the process of making one. In 1891, Rodin was commissioned to create a statue of the French novelist Honoré Balzac. It explained how much work and detail Rodin normally undertook in order to capture his subjects’ likeness. And this one in particular took much more effort and research, as Rodin had previously only sculpted living people and Balzac was dead. In order to research Balzac’s body type, Rodin poured over pictures, studied Balzac’s preferred clothing styles, and even dug up old records of measurements from his tailor. Then he hired several body doubles and worked up multiple plaster models until it seemed correct. In the end it took Rodin 7 years to complete. The finished product was interesting but secondary to the fascinating process. 

Petit Palais

Our visit to the Petit Palais, or Small Palace, coincided with a temporary exhibit titled We Are Here, focused on repopularizing street art in Paris. I’m unsure how a museum exhibit accomplishes that goal, but the execution was satisfying nonetheless. It featured paintings and artwork of today’s artists interspersed with displays from classical artists. That resulted in an interesting juxtaposition that spread through multiple areas of the museum. And the closing room of the exhibit was really fun, filled floor to ceiling with art from the artists represented earlier. 

Notre Dame Cathedral

As mentioned above, we were able to squeeze in a visit to the iconic cathedral once the holiday crowds had disbursed. Notre Dame had just reopened its doors to the public less than a month earlier, so our timing was good in that respect. While the outside was still covered in scaffolding, the inside is fully restored and open for business. All of the stained glass is brand new and so brilliant right now. And somehow, the stonework still manages to retain its ancient feeling. They also added some newer pieces of artwork in the side chapels. Initially we were on the fence about whether visiting would be worth the effort due to the crowds, but I’m glad we made it. The cathedral is more impressive than ever.

Toutounov Exhibition

It seemed like every third storefront in our neighborhood had posters advertising a Toutounov painting exhibition. I looked it up to see if we’d be interested and it sent me down a rabbit hole of learning about painter Serguei Toutounov. Born in Russia in 1958 and now a Parisian resident, he’s been painting since his childhood. His art is mostly a mix of landscapes and still lifes. The coolest part is that his website is filled with videos of him in action, like this mesmerizing 15 minute video of him painting a small vase of flowers. They are edited to only show the brush strokes, but the act of painting is not sped up. It’s like a timelapse in real time. If you need a peaceful zen moment, I highly recommend them.

Upon visiting his exhibition, we found that we really liked a lot of his work in person as well. His flower paintings in particular struck us as the best. The detail on them was amazing. We strongly considered buying one, but in the end couldn’t decide. Maybe if we had walls of our own to put this art on it would’ve been a different story. 

Antique District

Just north of the Montmartre neighborhood is an antique district that stretches for multiple blocks. Here we found vintage clothes, records, furniture, art, jewelry, rugs, and lots of miscellaneous trinkets spread between outdoor stalls and indoor marketplaces. It’s an enormous eclectic collection of historic French fanciness for sale. And it’s way bigger than I thought it would be from looking on Google maps. We wandered through the booths and shops for several hours until our toes were frozen and still didn’t see it all. Probably not even close. 

Where We Stayed

We rented a place on the north central side of town. The apartment was located on the far side of the Montmartre neighborhood and about an hour’s walk to the Île de la Cité where the Notre Dame stands. It was also close to 2 different metro lines, so we took the subway quite often, at least one way. The layout was a little quirky, with some Parisian charm. The main oddity was that the toilet was in a small closet off the kitchen, whereas the shower and sink were off of the bedroom. But we got used to that and liked the place for the most part. The owner left us a hand drawn map of the immediate neighborhood with his favorite restaurants highlighted. That was a new one for us and a nice personal touch.

What We Spent

Our apartment cost us $2129, which is our high water mark for spending on rent, but still seemed like a good deal for Paris. We also went to every museum that we could squeeze in, and while some were free, most were €12-€15 per person, meaning we spent $187 on museum entry fees. And getting to the city cost extra due to potential union strike activity. All together, we spent $3576 in Paris for our 30 night stay. Adding in recurring bills for health insurance and blog fees, our grand total came to $3806, or about $127/day.

We loved Paris during our first visit and this second visit was just as great. All of the art museums are just so inspiring. That includes the ones we visited that I didn’t write about above, of which there were several. But like skipping the Louvre, I had to make tough choices in order to get this post done. I don’t think we realized how much energy we put into getting out and seeing everything until we arrived at our next destination and just crashed for the first week. I’d say we definitely got our money’s worth. And even with a very active month, including walking over 140 miles (225 km), we still didn’t cross everything we wanted to see off of our list. That’s just a testament to how amazing Paris is. For art lovers, it’s hard to imagine there’s a better destination.