Water Lilies, at the right hour

Before booking

The four questions I'm asked most often, with the short answer.

Single ticket or guided tour?

For the Water Lilies alone, the reserved ticket is enough: the panels speak for themselves. For the Walter-Guillaume collection, the guided tour for six with an art historian makes the difference.

Should I book in advance?

No, except on the first Sunday of the month. But booking helps you choose your time, and it's the time that determines the visit. Details on the booking page.

How much time should I plan for?

1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes for the oval rooms and the basement, a bit longer with a temporary exhibition. Timing is on the visit duration page.

And on Tuesdays?

Closed, no exceptions. Open 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. the other six days, late opening on Fridays during exhibitions. The full opening hours, including public holidays.

The Orangerie, explained

I've spent more hours in the oval rooms than most guards, first as a museum educator, then because I live on Rue de Rivoli and I cross the Tuileries almost every morning. What I've seen for years is the same visitor: they've booked, they have their ticket, they arrive at 2 p.m. on a Saturday and they look at backs. The ticket wasn't the problem. The time was.

What is this museum

A small building from 1852, constructed in four months by Firmin Bourgeois to shelter the Tuileries Garden's orange trees during winter, with a glassed south façade facing the Seine. On the ground floor, two oval rooms in sequence, aligned east-west along Paris's historic axis, house Claude Monet's eight Water Lilies panels: 2 m high, 91 m long in total, around 200 m² of painting, lit from the ceiling as Monet required. He donated them to France in 1922, following Georges Clemenceau's suggestion; the rooms opened on May 17, 1927, a few months after his death. On level -2, the Walter-Guillaume collection: 146 paintings, including 25 Renoirs, 15 Cézannes, 29 Derains, 22 Soutines, 12 Picassos, 10 Matisses, and 5 Modiglianis, displayed in 1,300 m² of galleries since Olivier Brochet's renovation and reopening on May 17, 2006. The museum has been administratively part of Orsay since 2010. All this can be seen in 1 h to 1 h 30. The complete timeline is on a separate page.

The two decisions

The first is the time. The museum opens at 9 a.m. During the first half-hour, the two oval rooms are almost empty and quiet; you can sit on the central bench and turn around without anyone in view. From 11 a.m. on weekends, until around 4 p.m., you can no longer see the panels in their entirety. The timed ticket serves this purpose: choosing 9 a.m. It doesn't "cut" any endless line, there isn't one. It guarantees a time slot, and the 9 a.m. slot is worth the slight extra cost compared to the on-site ticket. The other good time is the Friday evening opening, until 9 p.m. during temporary exhibitions, at a reduced rate from 6 p.m. I detailed the off-peak hours on the best time page.

The second decision is the guide. The Water Lilies need no explanation: you enter, you sit down, you look. The basement collection does. Without someone to place Paul Guillaume, his widow Domenica and Jean Walter, to explain why there are 29 Derains and 22 Soutines in the same house, you go through these galleries in fifteen minutes and wonder what you missed. The guided tour for six people with an art historian lasts 2 h and goes through the garden on the way; reviews name the guides, Anatole, Francesca, Hugo, which is rare. If Monet is your only reason to come, the single ticket is enough and I say this without beating around the bush.

The route and the time

Water Lilies first, basement afterwards. This is the order recommended by the guides, and it's the only one that benefits from the opening: level -2 fills up later than the oval rooms. Count 30 to 40 minutes upstairs, 40 to 50 minutes downstairs, plus the temporary exhibition if you insist. The cloakroom is free and mandatory for large bags; nothing bigger than a cabin case is allowed in. The building is air-conditioned, an extra layer for the oval rooms is not absurd. The details of the timing are on the visit duration page.

Tuesday, late night, first Sunday

Tuesday is closed. Part of the questions I receive comes from people who arrived on a Tuesday in front of a closed door, with a ticket for another day. Also closed on May 1st, the morning of July 14th and December 25th. Last entry at 17 h 15, the rooms close from 17 h 45 onwards. On the first Sunday of the month, entry is free for everyone; booking a time slot then becomes mandatory, and it's the busiest day of the month. Under 18s and 18-25 year-olds resident in the EU enter free all year round, with a reserved time slot all the same. The full opening hours are kept up to date.

Orsay or Orangerie

Two museums, two banks, fifteen minutes' walk via the Pont de la Concorde or the Léopold-Sédar-Senghor footbridge. Orsay is a former station that requires a half-day; the Orangerie can be visited in 1 h 30. Orsay is closed on Mondays, the Orangerie on Tuesdays. There is a combined ticket. My way of doing things: the Orangerie at 9 h, the bridge, Orsay in the late morning when its first groups have already passed. The comparison in table form is on the Orsay or Orangerie page.

What I would book

For most people, the reserved entry ticket for the first morning slot. It's the product rated 4.7 out of over 7,000 reviews, and the most common feedback is about the time: Felicia was "in the first group to enter", Elena "skipped the line" by arriving a bit early. For those who want to understand the basement, the guided tour for six. For a day that combines the museum and the Seine, the ticket with a cruise, keeping in mind that the dock is near the Eiffel Tower, not in front of the museum. The smartphone audioguide is a recent offer, with no reviews yet, and I prefer to say it as it is rather than embellish it.