Truthfully, we lucked out on our morning walk and went right in without tickets.

As of two weeks ago there were very few tourists in Paris. I don’t know about the combo ticket. You do need to reserve online for the Orangerie. There was less than a 10-minute wait to enter the Orsay. Excellent time to experience Paris.

Bonjour, Le musée est petit et la visite se fait rapidement...une demi heure.

Yes you can but very easy to do when you're there!

Hi there, actually, you can book your tour 15 mins before at the register or book it online. Sorry, for some reason Tripadvisor does not let me copy the site where you can book. but follow these steps: 1. on the landing page, go to the right and choose the (fourth, top to bottom) orange circle that says "diary" 2. Scroll down to the Monday you want to book, if it is next week, then it must be Monday Feb 17th at 9:45 am 3. Click on the blue title "English guided tour: The Nymphéas [Water Lilies], Claude Monet" 4. on the right column, at the bottom click on booking and follow the steps to book your tour. Have a great time, it is an amazing museum!

I found my answer. I learned that master artists often did "Etudes" or "Studies" before or while working on their masterpieces to try out or perfect a technique-rather like a rough draft or brainstorming session for a piece of writing. The Seurat at L'Orangerie that I asked about is an etude for Un dimanche après-midi à l'île de la Grande Jatte, which is the masterwork hanging in the Art Institute of Chicago.

No. L'Orangerie is a completely different experience from the D'Orsay. If the Impressionists and Post-impressionists are your main interest, head for the top (5th) floor of the D'Orsay--before you get tired out!