A Day In Paris, A Day At The Museums...
Trip Start
Sep 02, 2007
1
2
5
Trip End
Sep 07, 2007
Paris,
France
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The Louvre Courtyard
We had exited the station and walked into the underground entrance to the Louvre, which just so happens to be where the inverted pyramid comes down from the ceiling and meets little pyramid on the floor.
Laura Where The Two Pyramids Meet
We froze in our tracks, smiled at each other and began a frenzy of picture taking.
Justin Next To Where The Two Pyramids Meet
After a quick bag search, a purchase of our audio guide and a flash of our Paris Museum Pass (which I ordered when we were back in Seattle and allows us free entry into about 60 different museums, with no lines), we began our Louvre experience. We decided we would follow the tour that Rick Steves' has in his book, which starts you off in Pre-Classical Greece... before the pyramids were built in Egypt.
Noot
The Louvre, being an old palace, is not just sculptures and artifacts and art on display. The museum itself is a treasure like no other. One could spend an entire afternoon just staring in wonder up at the ceilings. Forcing ourselves to keep moving, we weaved in and out of the old Greek statues, until we found ourselves staring at the famous Venus de Milo.
Venus De Milo
In a world where most Greek statues are actually Roman copies, the Venus is a true original that had caused a frenzy in Europe when it was discovered, as it stood for everything they had already been worshipping about Greece. We made our way past the Parthenon Frieze's (the ones at The British Museum were more impressive) and stared at statue after statue Greek God and Goddess. Of particular interest was the one of Aphrodite on a mattress that looked like a Costco Air Mattress.
Black & White Of Hermaphrodite Statue
Just look at the picture of it and you'll know what I mean. If you're wondering why I was more interested in the bed rather than the depiction of a god with both male and female genitalia, I don't really know what to tell you. I was just surprised that Greek Gods modeled on Costco air mattresses. Heading out of the room and up two massive flights of stairs, we were greeted by the mind-shattering site of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, 190 B.C. It's missing arms and a head, but it's almost as if it would look wrong if it had these necessities. The statue towers over you, screaming from a hilltop about some Greek naval victory.
Black & White Of The Winged Victory
Following Winged Victory we took in the views of the infamous glass pyramid in the area that was once the grand Tuileries Palace, which burned down during a riot. Down a long corridor called the Apollo Gallery, we got a chance to live like French Kings. The gallery displays dinnerware, dinner tables, chandeliers and toys and one ridiculously expensive treasure after another, until you get to the most truly ridiculous treasures of them all: The crown worn by Louis XV and the 140-carat Regent Diamond which sat on the crowns of Louis XV, Louis VI and Napoleon.
Ceiling Painting In The Louvre
It seemed strange that, sitting in a glass case directly in front of us was an item that if we owned and felt like selling, would give us enough money to not only never have to work again but possibly allow us to just buy our own island somewhere. Maybe even two islands. Isn't that stupid?Leaving the ancients behind, we entered the world of the Italian Renaissance. It could almost smell the works of Leonardo down the hallway. Entering the first section, your neck basically strains as you try and take in the size of the canvasses on the walls. They are beyond enormous. There were so many paintings that my head felt like it was literally going to lift off my neck with little rockets attached to it. We didn't even know where to begin. After a moment or two, we figured out that all of the must-see paintings are wherever the massive crowds of people are... so that's where we headed, taking in whatever we could as we walked along the massive hallway. Before we knew it, we were standing in front of Leonardo's "Madonna of the Rocks", "Virgin, Child, and St. Anne" and "St. Jean-Baptiste". Once again, I had chills running down my spine. It's just so strange to see these things in person that you've read about over and over and over. If you never think that you're going to see something, it begins to gain a mythical quality somewhere in the depths of your mind. That's kind of what Leonardo's paintings are for me. They are these creations that I was sure were real, but would probably never see, so I really could make them into anything I wanted. Does that make any sense? Regardless of what my confusing writing is trying to explain right now, just understand that Laura and I were in the greatest place in the world at that moment.
David's "Coronation Of Napoleon"
Following Leonardo are some masterworks by Jacques-Louis David, including the largest painting in the entire museum, "The Coronation of Napoleon" (1806-1807). In this gargantuan work of art, Napoleon is supposed to be represented in the moment of being crowned by the Pope. But Napoleon, feeling that no man is worthy to put a crown on his head, holds the crown up for all to adore and plops it on his own head as every one watches. The detail in this painting is absolutely eye-popping. Every little piece of Josephine's gown, Napoleon's wife, is represented by David. David even represents himself, painting a self-portrait (as a patron in the crowd) just below one of the tassel's near the balcony. This is Laura's Mom's favorite painting in the museum... and I can see why. It's mesmerizing.
Evil Baby Within Giant Painting
Speaking of mesmerizing, we walked into the next room and got hit in the face by the beauty that is Leonardo's "Mona Lisa". It didn't matter that there were swarms of people in the room, the presence of the painting just kind of erases everything else if you focus long enough.
The Mona Lisa
Stand in one spot and stare, and soon enough it is just you, the walls and the inspiring portrait depicting Lisa del Giocondo (at least that's who they think she is). The painting is small, way smaller than you would ever expect. It sits upon a cream colored wall with huge slabs of glass in front of it. They were allowing pictures today, and after a bit it was difficult to ignore the parade of flash bulbs going off like a symphony of radioactive lightning bugs. Still, the "Mona Lisa" is insanely captivating. It's the eyes and the smile, mixed with being in front of one of the most legendary paintings of all time by one the most legendary human being s of all time. I think we are going to have to swing back by tomorrow. We have to see it one more time.
In the same room as "Mona Lisa" and on the opposite wall, lies another canvas the size of a city block.
Giant Painting Of A Party... Near Mona Lisa
"The Marriage at Cana", by Paolo Veronese, is so big, and filled with so many people having a grand old time at a party, that after awhile of standing in front it you actually begin to feel like you could walk up to someone inside the painting and ask for a drink. Though you could never tell, the painting is supposed to be a depiction of the wedding celebration where Jesus turned water into wine... a power I wouldn't mind having.
After a quick break for lunch, we decided to just go ahead and attempt to tackle the entire museum. There were two more wings to see: The Sully & The Richelieu. Our legs screaming at us, we pushed on.
Egyptian God Of The House
And we thought the British Museum was big. You could probably put The British Museum inside one of the café's at The Louvre. Entering The Sully wing, we found ourselves in an endless sea of ancient Egyptian artifacts. It was never-ending. Room after room after room after room. From tools to toys to coffins to coffin lids to animal statues to animal mummies (including falcon mummies, crocodile mummies, bull head mummies and kitty mummies) to huge relief's with ancient texts.
Black & White of Ramesses II Statue
About an hour into our Egyptian exploration, we came upon what became my favorite part of The Sully wing: A massive coffin lid with the Goddess Noot (Goddess of the sky??) carved inside, facing the deceased. Next to the carving are extracts from an afterlife formula, assuring the dead that he will reach the world of Osiris (God of the After-Life). I love Ancient Egyptian beliefs. It's just way more mysterious than anything else out there. With today's world full of Monotheistic Religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism...I find the beliefs of the ancients to be way more interesting and creative. &nb sp; &nb sp;
One Of Original Copies Of Hammurabi's Code
After another couple of hours exploring the Louvre, including standing in front of an ancient copy of Hammurabi's Code and walking through Napoleon the III's apartment's, and we had to get out of there. We could spend our entire five days in Paris there. Anyone could. The place is a vacuum. We spent time out in the courtyard around I.M. Pei's famous glass pyramid (love it or hate it... we loved it), snapped some pictures and jumped on the subway towards The Musee de l'Orangerie... an impressionist museum housing Monet's six-foot-tall water lilies, hung in specially designed rooms that Monet had in mind for them. We had arrived at the Louvre around 9:45am... we were leaving at 4pm. Our legs were on fire.
The Orangerie sits in the middle of the Tuileries Garden, a subway stop away from The Louvre. After being closed for awhile due to remodeling, it re-opened sometime last year. The museum has the water lily rooms on the top floor, and the personal impressionist art collection of Paul Guillaume on the bottom floor. Using our nifty little museum passes again, we bolted through the lobby and entered the first room of water lilies.
Monet's "Water Lillies"... Orangerie Museum
Depicting the way light changed and reflected off the pond in his garden at Giverny, Monet worked on these eight, mammoth panels for 12 years... all while he was nearly blind. To say that they are beautiful is an understatement. It was amazing to stand right next to one of them and see the type of brush strokes Monet used, fat and thick at the beginning and light but creamy on the top. Backing away from the paintings, one can only attempt to take them all in. The rooms were a bit crowded. I'm sure it's a whole different experience all alone in a room with them.
Monet Painting
Making our way downstairs, we walked past a few brilliant pieces by Renoir, Gauguin, Cezanne, Rousseau, Matisse, Derain, Soutine (who loved to paint impressionist versions of chickens and rabbits being strangled) and Picasso. Laura and I treated this delightful little Impressionist walk-through as a starter for tomorrow's much larger Musee D'Orsay.
After the Orangerie, we went back to the hotel to rest. Our rest ended up being a three hour nap, and after waking up to the Eiffel Tower bathed in a beautiful sunset, we went on a food hunt. We found a place along the Champs-Elysees and gobbled up some yummy French-Italian cuisine. Somehow, I gathered up the courage to ask our waiter if they had a dessert menu... in French. Miraculously, he understood me. After dessert, we jumped on the Metro. Riding back to our hotel stop, this guy got up all the sudden and started walking into people, mumbling incoherently is he did so. Everyone on the car became frightened. It was weird because, one minute he's sitting there peaceful as can be, the next minute he's scaring the crap out of everyone. We got to our stop, ran off the car like a couple of Olympic sprinters and went back to our hotel. Tomorrow's just another day in France.
