Day 6--Musee du Louvre



It was finally time to go into the famous Louvre and see what it was all about. I knew it was going to be huge and busy...but I had no idea.

The main entrance to the Musee du Louvre is covered by a fairly new and modern looking glass pyramid. There was an absolute huge line to get in when we first passed by this area and were not looking forward to standing in it on our poor tortured feet. I believe the Louvre originally used to be the royal palace, which is probably why the front reminded me so strongly of Versailles. The two are very similar in style and structure.

Before getting ourselves up to get in line we stopped to admire this interesting arch in an area called Jardin du Carrousel. It reminded me very much of the Arc de Triomphe, yet it was not quite as big, though similarly styled, and it was made of reddish marble on the columns.

Here, through the archway, you can get an interesting view of the Louvre's main entrance and pyramid.

On the top of this particular arch there is a man driving a chariot. Here is a close up photo of that statue.



Finally it was time to go in, but instead of going in by the pyramid we tried first one of the side entrances. We were in luck, there was hardly any line, and after no time at all we were inside. The main entrance areas were crawling with people, which isn't surprising considering the free admission. To our delight and relief, we discovered that the coat check was also free and gladly left our coats at one of these desks so that we would not have to carry them around. It was very warm inside. At the information desk we aquired a map, in English, that directed us to the different galleries and some of the main attractions. I can tell you, there is no way to see all the Louvre has to offer in one afternoon. It would take weeks to get a thorough tour of what the Louvre has to offer. We decided to pick out a few main attractions we were interested in seeing in order to make it easier and then set off with the other throngs of people.

Our first stop was the Venus de Milo. It took a while to figure out the map in order to locate her, but found her we did and somehow I was able to get this okay photo of her among the crowds that surrounded her. I could not look at her for long because security would not let anyone really stop and take too long staring, they really wanted to keep traffic moving.

Next we made our way to the Egyptian exhibit. There were many interesting things to see here, including these large feet which I can only imagine used to be attatched to some larger figure. That must have been some statue when it was intact and I spent many minutes staring at these feet contemplating just what that statue may have looked like in the past. These feet alone were larger then me, just to give you an idea of the scale.

Near the feet we found this statue of Ramses II. Also among the Egyptian exhibit were many sphinxes of all sizes. I wish we had had more time to see them all, but there were just too many people to really stop and appreciate much, plus my feet were killing me.

Here is the largest sphinx we saw during out time in the Egyptian exhibit and my friend managed to get this pretty good photo of it, it was rather large and surrounded by a crowd of people.



The thing that impressed me most about the Louvre is not only it's sheer size, but the amazing collection of art and everything else they had on display. At the Musee D'Orsay, you were really limited to paintings and sculpture, but the Louvre had just about everything you can think of to see. One area in the Egyptian exhibit had a whole room full of old pyramid walls, another room was full of pottery. There was crystal, silver, jewels, furniture, and you name it--they had it. Earlier I said it would take weeks to get through it all, but now I'm thinking months. Truly impressive!



The next area we made our way to was the room displaying the crown jewels. At one end of this room, they had large display with several royal crowns. Whose crowns they were I have no idea since I could not get close enough to read what it said (it was in French anyway). People were pressing in and I am short so it was really hard for me to see, but I saw enought to know those are the biggest diamonds I've ever laid eyes on. There was also a dutchess necklace with gigantic sapphires and another with rubies. A queen or princess crown was covered in pearls, some so large they hardly looked real. I've never seen anything like that.

Next we tried to find the Winged Victory, pictured above, which is so large it was easy to locate. This statue is, I believe, from the same area as the Venus de Milo, but is also missing it's head as well as it's arms. You can't tell in my photo, but it is standing on a large piece of marble that looks as if it might at one time have been part of the bow of a ship (a sculptured ship, of course). Like at the Egyptian feet, I spend a good deal of time here pondering what this may have looked like when it was all in one piece centuries ago and if it might have been part of a larger display. It's hard to say, sometimes they fashioned the statues to look broken on purpose.



We then made our way through the Italian paintings on our way to see the Mona Lisa, probably the Louvre's most famous painting. The hallway in which the Mona Lisa is housed was very long and seemed to have no end, and of course the Mona Lisa was very near the end. On our way through we saw another picture by da Vinci which I think is called "Madonna on the Rocks" and features Mary with Baby Jesus and Elizabeth with baby John the Baptist. We stopped for a few mintues to take a look at this one. We saw anthother picture of a platter with John the Baptist's head on it and my friend commented that it was a very strange thing to make a painting of...and a very interesting way to immortalize John the Baptist. Finally, after a very long walk, we made it to the end along with everyone else to see the Mona Lisa. It was packed with people and tons of security was here hardly letting anyone pause for more than a second to look at it. I nearly got shoved right past it, but my friend grabbed my arm and pulled me up to get a closer look. It is not as big as you would think and not easy to see from that far away and behind the glass that is protecting it, but very interesting nonetheless. After and minute we were swept away by the crowd.



The only other thing we really went to see were some French paintings on the top floor, specifically the ones by Vermeer. Then we decided to leave. It may not sound like we saw much or stayed long, but trust me, we saw plenty and we were there for several hours. However, I can only take so much art at one time and by then I was arted-out and needed to give my poor eyes and feet the rest they deserved.



Again, we ventured out onto the nearby street in search of a place called Angelina's where we were told they served hot chocolate "to die for"--those were the exact words I believe. We actually had to wait in a longer line to get in and sit down then we had to at the Louvre, it was packed, probably with other tired museum visitors like ourselves. When we finally got a table we ordered a hot chocolate and a dessert called a Le Mont Blanc, which is difficult to describe: It was some sort of pastry filled with thick whipped cream, the real stuff, not some cheap imitation junk. It was covered in some sort of chocolate type meringue and the crust was chesnut flavored. I nearly died it was so good, but that was nothing compared to the hot chocolate. The waitress brough it to us in a pitcher and when we poured it into our cups it was so thick I was reminded strongly of pure Hershey's syrup. The taste was very strong and rich, thankfully they brought us some whipped cream to smooth the taste. My friend could barely drink a cup and a half of the stuff and could not finish her pastry, but somehow I managed to eat my entire pastry and drink three cups of the hot chocolate. I have no idea how I did it, but this snack was remarkably expensive and I think I wanted my money's worth. And it was worth the money because it was so good, but it's not the kind of thing I could eat and drink everyday.



Somehow we dragged ourselves back to our hotel. My feet and ankles were swolen, but it had been a great and inspiring day. My feet quickly got better after taking off my shoes and socks and propping them up on the bed. We had a small dinner, since I was still full of hot chocolate, and then went to bed.