Last full day in Paris! U's step count was 22,449 with 61 flights of
stairs.
First up was the Louvre. We had a 10 am reservation and so wandered through
the Tuileries Garden a bit before going in.
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Me, Matthew and Megan
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Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel built to commemorate some of
Napoleon's military victories.
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Megan in the Tuileries Garden with the Eiffel Tower in the
distance.
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Matthew, U and Megan with Grand Bassin Rond (where the Olympic
cauldron was during the Olympics) and le Musée d'Orsay behind
them.
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U and Megan
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Matthew, Megan, Me and U with the Louvre including the glass
pyramid
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The Louvre was initially a fortress and then a palace where the royal
family lived until Louis XIV moved to Versailles in the late 17th Century.
In 1793, the Louvre became a museum to display the nation's masterpieces. It
is HUGE! It is the largest museum in the world with almost 800,000 square feet
(almost 73,000 m2) of exhibition space and between 8.5-10 miles of
corridors. It is also the most visited museum in the world. In general, Me is pretty with good directions and can navigate us where we
need to go with ease. The one exception has been cars in the parking lot
which for some reason seem to elude her. However, the Louvre must now be
added to the list of places Me struggles with navigation. The maps are
confusing, the rooms are not well-marked and even if rooms are shown as
being on the same floor, there may be stairs between them. So how is anyone
to find their way around?!? (It should be noted that the British
Museum is not that much smaller and was quite easy to navigate.)
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We waited in line to go in through the pyramid entrance.
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Inside the pyramid.
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Winged Victory of Samothrace
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Fancy ceilings.
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Couple pictures of the Mona Lisa. Matthew was very helpful getting good
photos as he can make his way to the front of crowds more easily and he
takes nice pictures.
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Me, Megan and U with the Mona Lisa. It was very crowded. While the
painting is small, it is bigger than Me remembered.
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Wedding Feast at Cana by Paolo Caliari
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Look up!
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Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix
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Megan and Me in the Apollo Gallery
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Dragon pin. They added the body of a dragon to a pearl.
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Some of the crown jewels
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A couple of dragon serving vessels
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Megan and Hestia
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A couple photos of Venus de Milo
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Old games
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Sphinx
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Cool friezes
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Parapet with a volute pattern from the palace of Darius I from around
500 BC
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Frieze of lions from the palace of Darius I
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Many different types of weapons
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Jewelry
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The Inverted Pyramid (Pyramide Inversée)
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We grabbed some pastries, headed through the Tuileries Garden and then rode
the metro to Montmartre.
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Me, Megan and Matthew rode the funicular while U climbed the
stairs.
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Me with le Sacré-Cœur
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Megan and Matthew got these interesting looking hot dogs.
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Matthew, Me, Megan and U with le Sacré-Cœur
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View of Paris. The Pompidou Centre definitely stands out (to the
right of the top of the lamppost).
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Megan and U with le Sacré-Cœur
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We then headed to the Pompidou Centre. It is always cool to ride the
escalators on the outside of the building.
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View of le Sacré-Cœur. The views of Paris were quite good from
Pompidou.
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Pigeon city.
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Another view of the city with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. The
church a bit right of center is Saint-Eustache church and we could see
it well from Montmartre as well.
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We looked at some of the art. Some of it is easier to appreciate than
other. For instance, I do not appreciate the completely blue canvas or
the yellow and white sheet. Matthew's observation on seeing those is
that anyone could do modern art.
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Rythme by Sonia Delaunay
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Le Poète Philippe Soupault by Robert Delaunay
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Florentinisches Villen Viertel by Paul Klee. We saw a lot of Klee's
work at L'Orangerie.
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Un Tissu de mensonges by Max Ernst
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This may look like a fun gym for toddlers but it is actually a piece
of artwork.
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Geometric painting by Kazys Varndis
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After grabbing some savory crêpes for dinner, we went on a Seine rive
cruise. I learned a lot. Like the short bridge between Île de la Cité
and the left bank has collapsed 11 times, although none in the last
few hundred years. The Pont Concorde was built with stones from the
Bastille prison. Pont Alexandre III was built honoring the
relationship between France and Russia and is the only bridge that
does not have internal pillars. There is a matching bridge in St.
Petersburg, Russia. Pont Des Invalides is close to Napoleon's tomb. He
had it built to show his dominance: There is something representing
his dominance on land on one side and sea on the other. There is a
man/statue on one bridge that they use as a gauge for the river level.
If the water is to his feet, the river is closed for boats. Earlier
this year, it was to his knees. Once, it was up to his neck! Me could
understand the commentary in both French and English and did pick up
some interesting tidbits that way. For instance, the Eiffel Tower took
2 years and 2 strikes to build. The narrator only said the strike part
in French and said something about strikes being the French way. Can't
disagree with that!
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Megan and U
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Me and Matthew
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Notre Dame
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La Conciergerie
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Le Tour Eiffel. 2 years and 2 strikes...
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The smallest building in Paris (or at least on the Seine) according
to our guide.
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We picked up some souvenirs and dessert crêpes and packed up for the next
leg of our journey.
