The Musée d'Orsay (Orsay museum) is a Paris museum situated on the left bank of the Seine river, between the Assemblee nationale (French National Assembly) and the St. Germain-des-Pres area.
This massive building used to be a railway station at the beginning of the 20th century, the Gare d'Orsay. It became then a mailing center and also a place for film makers (Orson Welles with his film Kafka's The Trial). The Orsay museum was inaugurated by President Francois Mitterrand in December 1986.
The Orsay museum holds French paintings, sculptures, photography and furniture dating from the 19th century (1848 - 1915). The Orsay museum is especially known for its impressive collection of masterpieces from impressionnist painters such as Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Degas, Pissarro.