While the Musée d’Orsay is primarily an art museum with paintings and sculptures, it does have limited architectural exhibits. At the back, under the walkway, I featured yesterday, is a small but remarkable collection of architectural models.

As a nod to the city planning transformation of Paris in the middle of the 19th Century, the area around the Palais Garnier, also known as Opéra Garnier, is represented underneath the floor. This 1914 view of the district is modeled in 1/100th scale.

This picture puts the under-floor exhibit in context. Notice the display on the rear wall, a cross-section of the Palais Garnier.

Here’s a closeup of this incredible model with its mesmerizing level of detail. I didn’t fully appreciate the building or the model until I visited the actual Palais Garnier. It was my favorite building of all the fantastic structures I saw during this European trip.

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