There are around 130 museums in Paris . Seriously. Of course, not all of them are in the league of Louvre and its 70,000 exhibitions. So let’s give these smaller guys a chance. Visit Musée Monet Marmottan with me 😉

A lovely friend was visiting and the weather was shit, so museum was the way to go. At that point in time, I did not know that I have no art cell. It’s like… “What? That blob of colour is a what?” Anyways, it was a self discovery moment LOL Seriously, for some pieces I was sooo lost. I kind of feel bad for being a poor companion.

 

Straight after paying for the entrance, everyone had to hand in their handbags that’s larger than A5. I had my DSLR on me and I really felt uncomfortable leaving at their zero lock storage. They’re like bookshelves. So I hand carried it instead. Both the storage lady AND the security emphasized to me not to take photos.

 

At first, I stuck to the rules and really did not take any photo. But then, entered this couple where the lady was taking selfies all over the show and I decided to not deny myself any more LOL I only used my phone, because I didn’t feel comfortable using my camera and no I did not do selfie. It was moments of defiance? Sorry, museum.

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Inside Musée Monet Marmottan. There was a primary school group when we arrived. I guess French get trained at a young age.

I was really in awe how some of the visitors could discuss a piece of painting for like 10 minutes with their friend. What was there to discuss? I still don’t know how to pretend to understand what I was seeing. For me it was more: “O, that looked so lovely!” or “Wow! How did he paint this?” simpleton thoughts from me. I certainly lack the sophistication.

 

We were quite lucky, when we went it was the special Camille Pissarro exhibition. If I remember the audio guide correctly, at some stage, it took him 3 years to complete 8 paintings (FULL time job)!?!?!??!

Camille Pissarro musee-monet-marmottan-paris
This painting was done entirely in dots (thousands of 0.5cm dots). Camille Pissarro was a pioneer in this movement, but even he eventually ran out of steam.

My friend and I both had the audio guide. I swear that I understood each word individually but was unable to comprehend what the hell was going on. Why spend years deciding on the colour of the sky or the matching blue for the building? Huh? Just for laughs, I didn’t actually realise that this was a cathedral until my friend pointed it out.

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Photo has been adjusted for higher contrast. This was a Claude Monet piece. Theme was Cathedral Rouen. It took him over a year to decide on the sky and reflection colour. (honestly, I don’t get why this is a master piece)

Next, this was when I lost it. There’s a bloody bridge in this painting. I’d like to highlight that on photograph it looks a lot more obvious. That freaking line was supposed to be the abstract way to show a bridge. @!#%!Q%#@!

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Painting by Claude Monet. Do you see that bridge?

Sneaking around with my phone has been incredibly difficult for my heart. So many security staff lurking inside the museum. I feel extremely challenged in these type of “no photo” circumstance. What a day!

 

Audio guide is highly recommended. I would be even more lost without it. It was available in 3 languages: French / English / Japanese for 3 euro *it doesn’t allow plugging in your own headphone.

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Another Claude Monet piece… what do you?

It was a very calm museum. The collections were thoughtfully put together. I mean it as in a logical way (group by a similar period or a story line). I highly recommend it to anyone who have a strong preference for a zero photo blazing environment.

 

***They don’t have the super long Monet paintings like Musée de l’orangerie, but they do have a large collection of Monet paintings (his garden, bunch of reflection paintings) permanently on display. Way more chilled than Musée de l’orangerie in terms of environment due to the lack of photo blazing action and low traffic. You can see clearly in the photos that there’re heaps of people in Musée de l’orangerie.

 

Where was I?

Musée Monet Marmottan

http://www.marmottan.fr/

2 Rue Louis Boilly, 75016 Paris

Entrance price: 11 euro

It is possible to buy the Givenry (Monet’s house/garden, 1.5 hours drive outside of Paris) combination ticket at 18.50 euro

Visit their site to verify on entrance price and opening times.

Camera: Sony Z3+

No affiliated link.

 

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Author

Salut, I am Joyce. 30 something living in Paris. Appreciate little things and share giggles. Prudent, no nonsense reviews. #ExploreLaughRepeat

7 Comments

  1. Pingback: In the foreignland – bratty11

  2. Pingback: Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris – Local Girl Foreign Land

  3. Haha, I love that you snuck the photos. I get so deflated when places don’t allow photos – how else am I going to remember the visit? Oh right, I have to buy their souvenir book to see the photos. 😛 Did I ever tell you the story of touching a piece of sculpture at the Hermitage and getting yelled at in Russian? Good times!
    Your reaction to abstract paintings is similar to mine… but I have to say that Camille Pissarro’s work isn’t as deconstructed as other Impressionists’ work.

    • I think those souvenir books are for that. Problem is over the years, they really do fill up the bookshelf. These days, I just get annoyed and have to make do with a few postcards instead.

      You did not! In Hermitage???? Yikes, you’re very crazy haha

      I agree for the Camille Pissarro’s work. They’re so much more friendly to look at. For starters, I know what I am looking at before I listen to the audio guide wahahahah

  4. I sympathize when you say that you can’t talk about the painting for ten minutes, or really care what colour the sky was. I am not an overly visual person. The funny thing, I can talk about books and words and how well crafted a sentence is for hours…..

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