Private Half Day Guided Tour in Montmartre and Musée d’Orsay

The Moulin Rouge is an important starting point, because we meet here Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. This impressionist made painting of the "vedettes" (stars) of the Moulin Rouge: La Goulue and Jane Avril. We will see both later in Musée d'Orsay.

The (post-)impressionist Vincent van Gogh has lived between 1886 and 1888 in Montmartre where he met many other painters. He lived in Rue Lepic together with his brother Theo. We will see several of his paintings later in Musée d'Orsay.

Montmartre is famous because of the impressionist painters. It is also a beautiful neighbourhood by itself. We enjoy this beauty and funny side by passing the Wall of Love: in 311 different languages "I love you". Find your own language.

This is the studio of Pablo Picasso. Also this original Spanish painter created a turning point in modern art in Montmartre by starting the Cubism movement. Another proof that this neighbourhood is more than only a hype, it really brought a huge importance for art history and art lovers.

On the corner of Rue Lepic and Rue Girardon we find 1 of the 2 remaining mills: Moulin de la Galette. It was Pierre-Auguste Renoir who eternalised this mill by his masterpiece "Bal Musette du Moulin de la Galette" which we're going to see later in Musée d'Orsay.

To end the Montmartre part of this tour we pass some nice green spots on the hill. Afterwards we pass the famous current painters on Place du Tertre where the atmosphere is always very much alive. We are heading for the Sacre Coeur and enjoy the fabulous view on the city of Paris.

From Metro stop Abbesses we take subway line 12 to go to Musée d'Orsay. Tickets will be included in the total price of the tour.

In the Orsay Museum we take 3 parts. As an introduction we go briefly through the realism and pre-Impressionism with painters such as Millet, Courbet and Manet. To feel the city from the end of the 19th century I also show a scale-model of Paris, the Opéra Garnier building and paintings from that period.

After the introduction we move to the 5th floor for the enormous Impressionism collection. We start with an impressive view over the city, including the Sacre Coeur church in the distance (photo moment). Afterwards we pass all the masters such as: Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet (Déjeuner sur l'herbe), Monet, Dégas, Cézanne, Renoir (Bal du Moulin de la Galette), Pissaro, Sisley, Seurat, and separated Van Gogh and Gaugain.

In the last part in Orsay we see on the 2nd floor sculptures as the famous polar bear, the Gates of Hell and The Thinker of Rodin. We finish in the extraordinary Art Nouveau section (Gaudi, Guimard).