It may not be well known that the Louvre used to be a castle, it was built in the 12th century by Philip Augustus who built it as a fortified castle part of a massive wall that surrounded the city. It still housed royalty up until Louis the 14th built Versailles. Now, it holds some of the world's most well known art. Surprisingly, perhaps, the most well known pieces are among the most uninspiring.
When you enter the Louvre from the Palais Royal/Musee du Louvre metro stop you are granted first with an inverted pyramid.
When you continue you are then greeted by the inside of the glass pyramid that stands in front of the Louvre
We had a list of things that we supposed to see on our trip for our class, we set to this art scavanger hunt at once.
One of the things on our list was the part of Philip Augustus's wall.
Then we had a little brush with Egyptian artifacts but did not stay for the whole exibit
We were off to see the Venus de Milo
Found her! I must say, she was not very inspiring in person, fairly plain. When compared to some of the other sculptures it just wasn't up to par. For example, this one had another stone carved on top of it to mimic clothing
The celings in the Louvre are art in themselves
There were a number of painters and sketchers working in the Louvre while we were there
We found David's Coronation of Napoleon. This painting was HUGE. The people in the painting were more or less full sized
In comparison to David's Napoleon the Mona Lisa was very lack luster. First we completely missed her and had to backtrack to the room she was in. Once there it was very crowded. Two plates of glass, two guards, and a very wide barrier of rope kept you from getting close to the painting. Even if you could get close enough to examine the piece in detail, I don't think it would elate the painting much. It would still be small and dark. I see the genius, but I don't quite understand the hype.
After the Louvre we headed out to the Tuileries. They were very disappointing. Cut down the center of them was a very wide decomposed granite walkway. On either side were shrubs and trees. Not exactly inspiring.
There was some art here
This statue is the same as one at the Getty, which must either be part of the collection or a replica. Because I was being rushed by my group (the con to group travel) I didn't get a very good shot
The one from the Getty for comparison:
This statue sums up my feelings on the Tuileries
After the gardens we went to the L'Orangerie. This is a small impressionist museum right in front of the museum. I would not go out of your way to see it, however, the display of some of Monet's pastels were stunning
This is actually a Picasso
My favorite
A few of us decided after this that we would walk down the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe. From the Louvre (especially after spending all morning getting lost in the museaum) this walk is quite long. I suggest you take the metro there. If you want to walk down the Champs Elysee to the tower, than take the metro two stops to the Champs Elysee exit and walk from there. You'll get the best that way without the added walking.
A little grop of Le Cars going around the Arc
The tunnel to the Arc
You have to pay to go up to the top of the tower. We had the Museum pass (well worth while if you want to see all of the museums for the very fact that you don't have to stand in line to buy tickets, let alone from the money saved if you use it enough) so we didn't have to pay. The stairs up are being repaired so we got to take the elevator almost the full way up. Word to the easily winded: once repaired you'll have to walk a spiraling 212 steps to the top! If you have vertigo or claustaphobia issues than this is not the treck for you. In my opinion, it would be worth the walk for the view.
The modern part of Paris
Montmartre (near our hotel)
And of course...
The stairs do work on the way down. We passed this sign, and got a good laugh
it says a lot about the French work ethic, or should I say lack there of?
After the Arc we returned to the room for rest and dinner. We ventured out again to the Louvre at night for another go when it wasn't as crowded and we didn't have an itinerary. The Louvre stays open until 9:45 on Wednesday and Friday. Get there before 8:45 and prepare to be shuffled out of there at 9:30 it is well worth the second trip.
We saw some old artifacts from Iran this time through
From Darius I's castle
Also from Darius
Poppular pose at the Louvre
After the Asia/Iran exhibit we headed towards the French sculptures
Us looking at a sculpture as the sculpture look at a painting
Aren't we glad we didn't get Laddy Liberty instead of Lady Liberty?
The metro station under the Louvre closes before the Louvre does if you go one of the late nights. Go towards the metro but follow the stares up to the Rue du Rivoli. Once you reach the street go to the right. You should cross in front of these arches with roads going in front of the Louvre. Keep going and you’ll see the metro exit on your right side. If you don’t have a pass and need to buy a ticket, cross the street in front of the Palais Royal (big lit up building, can’t miss it) and enter the metro there. Be warned, the ticket counter might also be closed.
2 comments:
Perfect timing, I was just about to email you asking where your latest update was. I didn't expect it this late, with it being near midnight over there.
I'm surprised you didn't add a bit more about the architect of the glass pyramid...
You must be in awe of all of the historical landmarks and works of art in Paris that you've heard so much about, but are now seeing. I wish that I could see them someday, too.
Hey! Is that your mother's wallpaper in that little museum by the Louvre?
BTW, those were Citroen 2CVs tooling around the circle, not Renault Le Cars.
Looks like the weather got better!
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