The BEST "Before & After"

I have seen a lot of Before & After designs over the years.

Some were wonderful, some not so hot.

But this was the most extensive and impressive I have ever witnessed!

In the center of Paris, facing the Seine River...

What was first built as the Gare d'Orsay built in 1900 for Universal Exhibition.

The station & hotel served numerous travelers in addition to many banquets and political meetings.

But in 1939 the station changed to only serving the suburbs as its platforms were too short to accommodate the modern, electrified & longer trains. 

It was then used as a mailing center for sending packages and letters to prisoners during the second World War and  even movie companies used it as a backdrop. In 1973, the hotel closed.  It escaped
total destruction and was finally classified as a Historical Monument in 1978.

On a personal note, just after the building was saved and it was announced it would become the

Musee d'Orsay

I was fortune enough to be walking by late one Sunday afternoon.

There was no one about, and even more surprising no signs of "No admittance "!!!

The gates which surrounded the building were open wide...

so, what would you do?

Well, I walked in!

All of the furniture in the hotel had been removed. The train tracks were gone and the walkway was not there. But the rest was exactly as if time had stood still.

Soot covered the ceiling, the clock was still, and there was only silence and memories of all these walls must have seen and heard!

It is a memory I will never forget....and thats why the Musee d'Orsay and all of the Art it shows off so  well, will always be near and dear to my heart!

This fabulous musée opened its doors December 1, 1986.

Go there and see, but listen for the ....train whistle!