I will be in Paris May 23rd and plan to visit Musee D'Orsay. Should I purchase entrance ticket online before I leave USA, or wait until I'm there? Is there likely to be a long wait in line in the ticket line?

If you will be seeing more than one or two museums the Paris Museum Pass makes sense and these can easily be bought at minor museums with no lines and then used to skip ticket lines at orsay, louvre, etc.

You might find a long line on Saturday or Sunday. Going in May will probably see shorter lines, or virtually none at all.

The first time I went, I arrived about 10:40 on a Sunday. The line was fairly long by that time.

The second time I went on a weekday and got there shortly after the doors opened. The line was negligible. Both times were in early September.

I think the Museum Pass is good, but even on the day I found the long line, which was expected, the wait was tolerable. It is just that standing in line is essentially wasted time in a location where the per hour cost just to be there is fairly high!!

I don't think in those terms, however. Spoils the vacation.

Are you only in Paris that one day? If so, a Museum Pass probably doesn't make sense. That is one of the few instances where buying a ticket ahead of time might be a good idea. The lines can be very VERY long and an advance ticket lets you jump the queue.

(If you are in Paris more than one day - you can buy an advance ticket right at the museum. But that wouldn't work if you are only there the one day)

I tried to get there early before they opened and wasn't much of a line, but when I came out later - wow that was a LONG line!

Assuming that you're up to getting there near opening time on the 23rd, buying there seems not to be much of an issue. By the same token, if there isn't any price differential worth mentioning in buying in the States beforehand, why not take one thing off your to-do list?

We bought advance tickets at the museum the day before. For a one day visit I'd buy in advance especially if you're going on the day the Louvre is closed (Tues, i think) as the lines are even longer...as we found last month! We were glad to find no line at the advance tix office.

Besides getting to the Orsay at opening time, you can save yourself some crowds by heading straight back through the ground floor until you reach the other side. There you will find the escalators; go right up to the top and work your way down. With luck you won't have much company, as most people work their way up. The Impressionist collections are on the top floors.

We visited the Musee D'Orsay last October. We arrived early on Sunday morning and they have a discounted admission on Sundays. There wasn't a big crowd early in the day.

This seems like a good place to ask a question I've had for some time...and it might help Geoff, too.

We were there for several days in September 06. Went to the Louvre the first day, entered through the underground metro entrance at Palais Royale. There is a Tabac in the corner directly to the right of that entrance. Bought our Louvre tickets there. It was a breeze...no lines.

Then he told me he had D'Orsay tickets for the next day. Took those,too. The next morning there was a crazy line at the D'Orsay (in the rain). We went to the "groups" entrance, showed him our tickets, and he let us right in.

So, I'm wondering: does anyone know <i>which</i> tabacs sell museum tickets? I assumed he's the only one, due to his being IN the Louvre.

We were there on the first Sunday in May, thus the free day and although there was a long line as one would expect, it was no more than 1/2 hour to get in.

The Orsay may be closed for the public sector strike on May 22nd, so crowds on May 23rd could be unbearable.