Musée d’Orsay
This place used to be a train station! Inaugurated for the 1900 World’s Fair, it first connected Paris and Orléans, eventually joining with many cities all over the South and West—from Quimper to Bordeaux to Toulouse—and boasted a luxury hotel complete with ballroom.
As trains got bigger, the station’s short platforms became unsuitable; it sputtered along for a bit as a suburban commuter station, but then was gradually abandoned. Plans to revitalise the station began in the 70s, and the new museum opened in 1986. It mainly (but not exclusively) displays French art from the mid 19th century up to WWI.
