ABC Wednesday: U is for Upstairs, Downstairs

Upstairs, downstairs, we are not talking about the British television drama of the 70's.  We are talking about the two restaurants of Musée d'Orsay, of Paris.  Grace was in Paris for several meetings a few weeks ago and went to the museum.  It has been totally renovated (I first saw the museum when it was under construction in the 80's).  She was late for lunch and went upstairs to the Café Campana just by the Impressionist Gallery.  It is a typical Parisisn brasserie and designed by the famous Brazilian designers, Campana brothers.  As you can see it was almost two thirty in the afternoon, the restaurant was packed.  No place for her to sit.

She could not get close to the clock at Campana, instead, she went through the Impressionist Gallery and photographed through the clock at the opposite end facing towards Louvre.

Down stairs, there is Le Restaurant, the former restaurant of the Hôtel d'Orsay.  It was first opened in 1900, when the place was the Gare d'Orsay.  The new construction was by the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte.  It is as magnificent as ever.

Here is a more detail view of the ceiling from the original 1900.  You can imagine where Grace finally ended up having her late lunch.

These photographs were taken using the new Nikon V1, a much smaller mirrorless camera with interchangeable lens.  Consider its size, the results are not too bad.

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