Is it open yet? It has been closed the past three years when I have been in Paris. I am hoping trip No. 4 next month will be the lucky one.

Not yet, and apparently not for a few years to come....

Someone else just asked about it earlier today - see:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34485979

This question comes up frequently, but I'm beginning to think we may not see the reopening in our lifetime!

Underhill and Lesli!

Too funny .....I don't have that many more travel years left and I hope it's time is before mine!

I'm just glad we saw the Monet water lilies when the Jeu de Paume still had all the Impressionist paintings jammed on the walls. I guess that really dates me.

Guess I will just have to keep returning until it is open......like I need an excuse. Oh well....thanks folks. Nineteen days and counting.

Per a recent Rick Steves article (March 19), entitled Old World Tips for 2004, yes, the Orangerie art museum will re-open later this year. He didn't specify when -- suggested the official Paris website for more info, http://www.paris-touristoffice.com. Additionally, he advises the Le Petit Palais museum is closed for renovation until 2005. You can read all of Rick's tips at http://www.dallasnews.com/travel.

The Rick Steves article seems to be out of date; perhaps he wrote his article too far in advance. Archaeological remains were discovered below the Jeu de Paume/L'Orangerie, and it will be years, probably, before excavations are completed and the building re-opened.

Underhill,
I was there too and still remember how I felt as if I was actually standing right in a Monet painting!

Do you remember going up the stairs at the Jeu de Paume and having the van Gogh painting of the church at Auvers appear right in front of you? Formidable!

You can see quite a few of Monet's water lilies at the Musée Marmottan; they're, fittingly, in the basement gallery.