Located west of downtown Paris, in the stylish and affluent 16th arrondissement, lies the Musee Marmottan Monet, a small gem of a museum, filled with the works of Impressionist painter Claude Monet and his friends. Named for the owner of the spacious 19th-century town house that houses the museum, the Marmottan’s collection is centered on a group of 65 Monet paintings bequeathed to it by the painter’s son Michel in 1965. This core grouping includes “Impression – Sunrise,” the painting that gave a name to the entire art movement, as well as one of Monet’s series of Rouen Cathedral studies. The highlight of the collection, however, is the large number of water lily paintings of Monet’s garden at Giverny, done late in Monet’s life, mostly from memory as he had lost most of his eyesight. These massive canvasses are displayed in a round gallery, where they virtually envelop the viewer. The Marmottan also contains a number of paintings from Monet’s personal art collection, including works by Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley. The walk through the park from the Muette metro stop to the museum is a lovely throwback to the 19th century and helps to set the scene for a museum visit.