Rodin Museum sculpture garden reopens to public

There is a ray of light for Parisians who, like the rest of the French nation this weekend, begin to observe a tightened coronavirus curfew

PARIS — There is a ray of light for Parisians who, like the rest of the French nation this weekend, begin to observe a tightened coronavirus curfew: The famous Rodin Museum sculpture gardens is reopening to visitors.

Though the rococo museum, showcasing the world’s largest collection of Rodin sculptures, remains closed, visitors are now able to enter the sculpture-filled surrounding gardens that overlooked the gold dome of Les Invalides monument. They had been shuttered since November and reopened Saturday.

Now, the pink viburnum is in bloom, and forsythia buds poke out between the bronze forms.

“It’s fantastic,” Matthew Cordell, an American resident of Paris, said Sunday. “It’s been a tough confinement … We chose to live in Paris because we love the museums so it’s really nice to be able to get out and see some art.”

Others appreciated the setting, even if they were undecided by the artist himself.

“Coming back to culture is extremely important, even if I’m not exactly a Rodin fan,” visitor Philippe Boirel said Sunday.

Some of Rodin’s most famous sculptures like The Thinker, a towering contemplative bronze, can be seen there amid the greenery. Hidden in the thickets amid the strolling public, Orpheus tunes his lyre.

Tickets for the Musee Rodin at 77 rue de Varenne in Paris are six euros (about $7.25).