On our first day in Paris during our recent trip, we headed to the Musée d’Orsay which lives in an enormous former railway station. We opted for a guided tour of the main masterpieces to get a little context.

        The top floor of the museum is dedicated to my favourite group of artists, the Impressionists. It has an astounding amount of the world’s most famous paintings – paintings that even the least art-savvy person would recognise.

        Degas has always been a favourite of mine, and there are some great Van Goghs as well. But it was this painting my Claude Monet, Le Déjeuner; panneau decorative (1873), that caught my imagination. Perhaps it was the emotion and excitement of being in France, but I couldn’t get the image out of my mind and I’ve spent spare moments daydreaming of being part of this idyllic scene. Taking tea in the afternoon shade, without a care in the world…

        I also picked up the above postcard, Nymphéas bleus, also by Monet, because of the vivide colour palette – I do adore a bold use of colour in art.

        The Musée d’Orsay is closed on Mondays (it seems that most of Paris is) and free to visit on the 1^st Sunday of the month. However the excellent news for citizens of the EU under 26 get in completely for free at all times! If you travel by Eurostar and show them your ticket, then you can buy 2 tickets for the price of 1.