A day at the Louvre Museum

We decided today to go over to the Right Bank in the 1st arrondissement to the Louvre Museum.  We were surprised how easy it was to avoid the long lines by going early, and it is everything that has been written about it, fantastic.

 

The inside is huge, the walls are painted pure white to reflect the light, and there are so many different areas to visit, that you can avoid the huge masses of people that are for the most part congregating in front of the Mona Lisa.

There are some 35,000 pieces of art dating from prehistory to the 19th century and this is the world's largest museum (and most visited). It definitely is huge, covering an area of 652,300 square feet.

Built in the late 12th century by 1682 it became the main place to display the royal collection under Louse XIV who had chosen the Palace of Versailles for his family to reside at.

During the French Revolution, it was decreed that the Louvre would display the country's masterpieces.

On August 10, 1793 the Louvre opened officially, with eight curatorial departments, that included over 35,000 displays.

Everything from archaeological discoveries, to sculptures, paintings, drawings and objets d'art are arranged in various rooms throughout the museum.

The day we went, we were surprised at how small the Mona Lisa actually was, and it was the only piece of art work that we could not walk right up to,  to study. 

The minute you leave this room, the crowds for the most part lessen, and we headed over to my favorite period, the Dutch painters and the gorgeous realism of the Flemish school of art.

It was interesting to see students at their easels throughout the Louvre copying the great masters, a really incredible day...

 

 It does go without saying, that if you have the time, spend several days (the majority of a day, with intervals for a bite to eat & some coffee) each day, at a different section.  

As soon as you get familiar with the Louvre, you can then look forward to all the other art museums throughout Paris, never ending !

 

Night time in Paris

The days spent in Paris are filled with long walks, a few metro connections and lots of coffee, to keep you going otherwise you would never see all that you want to.

Night time is for leisurely walking, cafes and seeing the city not in bright sun light, but amber light, and if you are so lucky as to see it from the Seine, then as Hemingway said, it will be with you forever.

There are 35 bridges that cross the river in Paris,
 and one of the oldest is the "Pont Neuf" built around 1600.

It's seven arches make up the "long arm" of the bridge from the right bank to the western side of the "Ile de la Cite". The detail work is quite dramatic at night.

Near 10:30 one night we decided to head toward the Eiffel Tower and then over to the river for a boat ride, it was one of the best things we could have done.

 The spring night was perfect, cool enough for a light sweater but also sandals, and sitting on the edge of the boat with the river water occasionally hitting you was a great feeling.

Why not be cold for a little while, then amble over to a cafe for something to warm you up later?

Along the night journey down the Seine, we passed the Grand Palais, Concorde, the Louvre, and along the quays people just strolling, sitting arm in arm, and relaxing on such a beautiful night.

Continuing down, we passed the Hotel de Ville, and  Notre Dame which is amazing in the evening (much more dramatic than in the day time). 

We eventually headed back and along the way went under the most evocative bridges, with gargoyles, gold winged statues, and carved stone,  everywhere you looked.

Continuing along we passed the Institue de France, the fantastic Musee d'Orsay, Hotel des Invalides, then disembarked and stopped for awhile at
the Eiffel Tower.

The Tower was built in 1889 and appears to be in great shape over a hundred years later. Located on the Champ de Mars, it was built as the entry way to the 1889 World's Fair by the designer Gustave Eiffel. 

It appears that everyone has either a love or hate relationship to it, but it is really a very dramatic structure lit up at night, as tall as an 81 storey building.

Slowly walking back through Paris that night was terrific, right down to buying the cliched miniatures from the spread out rugs of the peddlers (my daughter found one that actually glowed in the dark, to bring back to a friend). If you can't buy chotskys, what fun is there?