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The Orangerie is a quiet and mysterious gallery at the far end of the Tuileries which was once a royal greenhouse for the king’s orange trees. The gallery is located just off Concord and overlooking the Philae obelisk from which Champollion deciphered most of the hieroglyphs. The gallery is an easy 15-minute stroll from the Louvre on the Tuileries and just across the Seine from the Orsay via the footbridge. The Louvre is an ocean of works of art, Orsay is a sea, and the Orangerie is a tiny pond but of the most picturesque kind. Not sprawling like the Louvre, or showy like the Orsay, but an inconspicuous outcrop of concrete nestled among the citrus trees. Some call it the Temple of Impressionism and impress it does!

The purpose-built gallery contains two oval rooms whose dimensions were tailor-made to fit Monet’s iconic wall-length works of water lilies.
Together the rooms that holds these timeless works of art represent the infinity symbol. As we enter Monet’s universe time reverses to 1918 and stands still. Take a seat and take in these beautiful works that lay bare the ravages of the First World War. Feel the universe shimmer with his subtle strokes. The bullets bring cold and frost and the lilies start to wither, hopes of peace bring rain and shine and the lilies start to bloom again! Weeping willows observe the scene with an eternity of silence as if shedding teardrops into a reflective lake that subtly echoes the collective apprehensions of a nation and an entire continent embroiled in war. For Monet, this complex conceptual ode was a deeply personal subject as he was a grieving father who had lost his son to the cruelty of war and was struggling to come to terms with his loss. The paintings may have assuaged his grief. But this spectacular show of Impressionism is only the beginning - just the tip of the iceberg. Below these works is the vivid basement that brims with an array of blockbuster paintings collected by the famous art dealer Guillaume and graciously donated by his widow to the nation. Here you will witness world-famous works by Modigliani, Cezanne, Derain, Matisse, Picasso, Utrillo, Renoir and Soutine.

While the monumental canvases of Monet create a sacred space for a soul-searching experience it is deeply incompatible with the basement where Renoir soothes, Soutine torments, Picasso rips and Cezanne deconstructs the same art! The deep contrast between the works at the ground floor and basement creates the scene for a sudden mood change as we leave the Temple of Impressionism. Consider our well-paced tour for a starter’s . We begin our journey at the ground floor gazing at the sublime works of Monet. Afterwards, we head to the basement, where we can revel at the pearly period of Renoir and the classical and pink periods of Picasso. Shortly after, we will enjoy the Red Rock and other heavily structured landscapes of Cezanne before delighting in the visual contrast between the extreme light palette of Laurencin and the