Chester Dale, 1945, by Diego Rivera, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art

Only a snow ball’s throw away down the Hill lie the treasures of the National Gallery of Art. We can walk into the marbled halls for nary a cent, the envy of our NYC brothers who have to shell out $20 a piece for the Met and MoMA. It’s the perfect time to go and see how one family’s passion for collecting shaped a collection that encompasses the best of late 19th and early 20th century arts. Chester Dale and his wife Maud were collectors with chops, and snapped up pivotal canvases by Picasso, Corot, Degas and Bellows before they hit the big time. The even had their portraits painted by renegade bad boys Salvatore Dali and Diego Rivera.

On a recent trip to the gallery I stumbled into the soft opening of the exhibit, and found myself eavesdropping on docents in training as well as Washington Post art critic Paul Richard. He mentioned the Dales thought of the works in their collection as their children; 83 of the children given by the Wall Street tycoon in 1962 fill the four rooms dedicated to the show. One can only imagine the pride they’d have that Renoir’s “Girl With a Watering Can,” a treasure of coffee table art books everywhere, maintains its place as one of the best-selling postcard images in the world.

Planning your visit to coincide with lunch could add an extra dose of the French experience to the visit. Michel Richard of Citronelle offers a $19.75 buffet of French country classics, including coq au vin, onion soup, lentils, and cured ham in the museum’s garden cafe just outside the exhibit. If the snow keeps the tourists away, you might just think you hear the Seine rolling by.