Orsay Museum
Where can you find a museum housed in a former train station? In Paris, of course! But there’s a lot more to the story! Once upon a time, in 1810, Napoleon commissioned the construction of the Palais d’Orsay. A magnificent building destined to two newly created Institutions: the State Counsel and the Accounts Court.

Fast forward 60 years, the Palais d’Orsay went up in smoke during the 1871 Paris Commune (aka the 4th French Revolution!) and the ruins will remain there for nearly 30 years. The Orsay train station was built between 1898 and 1900 just in time for the Universal Exhibition.

The train station will actually serve its purpose for about four decades until the occupation of Paris, when it became a shipping center dispatching parcels to prisoners of war. After the liberation of Paris, it served as a place to welcome those same prisoners returning home.

The station was used for press conferences: President De Gaulle spoke there ; and even as a movie location: Orson Welles used it for his adaptation of Kafka’s trial! Finally, in 1978, the train station was classified as a historic monument and the decision was made to turn it into a museum. Let’s hope it stays that way!