Monday, June 5, 2017 - Our day at the Louvre

There are so many fantastic buildings, museums, memorials, sites to see in this incredible city, but when you only have a certain amount of time, you have to be choosy - or another way to look at it is - save some for the next time we visit.  :)

We chose the Louvre for several reasons - its a historical structure dating back to the 12th century, it is the largest museum on the planet, it's situated in a palace, and houses some of the most incredible works of art ever, including the Mona Lisa, one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities, and sculptures predating the mid 1800s. 

Before heading to the Louvre, we had to take care of some business....like rent a car.  :)  We decided to finish out the rest of the trip by car - destinations will be in future blog posts.  :)  We had to travel back to the train station because that is where Hertz is located.  Being AAA members, we were able to get a deal since Hertz contracts with AAA.  Since renting a car, we had to find a place to park it for the day while we visited the Louvre.  Luck would have it that directly across the highway from the Louvre is an underground parking structure where we prepay to keep the car for a certain amount of time. 

Right next to the entrance to the underground car lot is this beautiful Catholic church  -  Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois.  We just stepped inside for a few minutes to look at it's beauty and snapped a few pictures.

Onward to the Louvre

We preordered our tickets so we were able to get into a smaller line for entrance to the museum, otherwise it would have been a longer wait.  Outside of the museum, I'm sure everyone is familiar with the glass pyramid.  This was where you entered the building and traveled down.  The entire lower level of the museum is a shopping center....a far cry from it's original purpose of a fortress built in the late 10th century.

This shot is from the inside of the pyramid looking upward.

It was our goal to see the Mona Lisa and Egyptian antiquities.  We followed the crowd --- E V E R Y O N E was anxious to see the Mona Lisa.  The crowd was like that at a rock concert with general admission.  John was the trooper - he wanted to get as close as he could since we were there.  HE gallantly fought his way through the plethora of Parisians, Asians, Germans, and whatever other kind of countries were presented.  He even got elbowed in the ribs by a short Italian woman wanting that perfect picture of Lisa.  LOL!  I, on the other hand, stood off to the side and, interestingly, I had a better view of her and closer than he was able to get.  It was also a perfect spot to people watch - I just stood there in the midst of chaos -- adults actually making their children crawl on the floor through the crowd to get a picture.  There were also a few gals that seemed to be overdressed to me for a museum  --- one Asian gal was wearing a long bright red dress with a long slit up the side and a "plunging" neckline with black heels and large bug-eyed sunglasses --- inside the museum.  She was trying to get that perfect "selfie" on a selfie stick.  Just can't understand it all.  I stood off to the side while "Lisa" gave me that look of "You've got to be kidding me, Cindy."  I know Girlfriend - I know.  LOL!

This picture is cropped.

John with Lisa and one of the rib-poking Italian women.

PAINTINGS:

There were a few other famous works of art that I had seen over the years and was hoping to get a view of while we were here.  These are some of my favorites.

Painted by Botticelli

"A young man presented by Venus"

Completed in 1485

Many ceilings within the museum were also great works of art.

Painted by Luini

"Salome' Receives the Head of St. John the Baptist"

Completed apprx 1532

Painting by Biagio D'Antonio

"Christ Carrying the Cross"

Completed 1466

This shows several emotional scenes about this one specific event, but the one that has always captured me was the woman (Veronica) with the image of Christ's face on a cloth, after wiping the blood and sweat from his face.

Painting by Rafael

The Grand Saint Michel

(Demolishing the Demon)

Completed Apprx. 1520

This is definitely one of my favorites.  It's one of four in a series entitled 

"Four Seasons" painted by Poussin  This particular painting was "Spring" and also known as "Paradise Lost," which depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The series was completed in 1664.

SCULPTURES

Throne of a Bacchus Priest

Athena

AND...

THE EGYPTIANS

King Akhenaten - 18th Dynasty and father of King Tut

Created between 1353 and 1337 BC

Hieroglyphs in stone

I see a resemblance.....  LOL!

This statute is said to be made of twelve pieces of wood.  She has an oxen leg on top of the trough she is carrying on her head.  This symbolizes food offerings to nourish the dead in the afterlife.

Apprx 1950 BC

Sarcophagi/coffins

The Blue Egyptian Army

Canopic jars buried with the deceased which housed individual organs so deceased would have them in the afterlife.  There should always be four jars.

The Louvre was quite the adventure for the day.  We wanted to see other buildings, but did not fully understand the magnitude of the Louvre.  I'm very glad we were able to see as much as we did, but it is truly a place in which you need an agenda to visit....it is impossible to see it all in one day.  The Egyptians had three levels all by itself.

AND....WE'RE OFF TO OUR NEXT DESTINATION

Leaving Paris

Approaching Arc de Triomphe

INSANE --  at least six lanes of traffic heading towards the Arc

Once at the Arc, its a race through the round-about with NO specific lanes anywhere - you make them up - you go with the flow - you just GO!

Coming out from the round-about at the Arc.

A view of a street in Paris and the surrounding buildings

Paris' financial district

Thanks for stopping by!

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