oh wow. i think i liked d’orsay more than the louvre. incredible.

i saw the most wonderful impressionism!!! monet, van gogh, manet, degas…they were all there! i immediated entered the old train station (precious by the way) and made my way to the top floor. van gogh’s starry night on the siene (pre- famous starry night that is at the met in nyc) was awaiting me. perfect. the stars really looked like they were glowing from within! next i looked around the van gogh room and saw his sunflowers, self portraits, and the room he stayed in while in paris. his brushstrokes progressed in each one to become more defined, yet perfectly harmonious. his color choices reflected the mood of the painting, and the swirls on the background of his portrait were very starry night-ish. i loved it!!! i was in awe the entire time i was there!! so gorgeous!

on to monet. one of the most famous impressionists of all time, monet did not disappoint! his waterlilies were flawless, and his bridge was the perfect addition to the quiet nature that the painted. my favorite was a picture of the gardens with flowers everywhere. he also had a series of churches at d’orsday which i had never seen before. so pretty. his color choices, too, were so so pretty. it was very interesting to see the differences in style between each painter. monet had very small brush strokes, almost like dots, and they they combined beautifully to form a precious moment in time.

degas. i have been waiting for this moment since i arrived in paris. the blue dancers- incredible. just incredible! i was amazed! even the background with the different dots of purple, pink, blue, and green jumped off the canvas and captured my heart! (my second love after the ballet) the blues of the tutus were light, dark, and everything in between! degas managed to caputure exactly what the dress would look like when light strikes this part and that. i kept having to go back to that one. it melted my heart. there was also the dance class, the orchestra, and the dancer of 14 years (bronze statue with a cute little cloth tutu and ribbon in her hair). she was precious. i loved it!!

i looked around at everything else and saw a little rodin (gates of hell, torso of a man), and couldn’t believe i was actually there! everything was beautiful, but the impressionists stole my heart! the colors are melt together so well, and the real life depictions leave it to your imagination, yet give you the general idea. i would love to know how their mind could function like that so they could see the world in bits and pieces that could be taken appart and analized seperately, before putting them back together on a canvas with colors and motions that weren’t there or not noticed at a first fleeting glance. i love it. i loved every second i was there. almost as much as i loved the ballet. :)