Musee d"Orsay - Repurposing on a Grand Scale

You can't go to Paris and skip the Musee d'Orsay.  Even on our very first, three-day visit, it was on the agenda, and  rightly so.

Just across the Seine from the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay started life as a train station.  But as the population grew and traffic patterns changed, it was no longer needed for that purpose.  What to do?

This being Paris, the first thought wasn't, thankfully, "Let's tear it down and put in a strip mall!!!!"  It's a beautiful structure that needed some grand purpose to fulfill its destiny.

And what better purpose than housing an art collection?

The tracks were torn up and flooring put down, but you can still see that it was once a train station. 

*Update* I've just noticed that this post has totally replaced my last one, instead of just adding onto it, like they're supposed to.  Ugh!  I've mentally re-traced my steps and figured out what I've done.  I'll try to get the pics back up this afternoon, but don't think I can adjust the comments.  So Corine's comment and my reply are about that, currently invisible post! 

I thought I was being so productive, too, blogging in the morning.....