Today is our day to explore the wonders of the Louvre Museum! Now earlier I mentioned my no museums rule for the trip, however I decided to apply that to only Strasbourg because there was never a chance I would pass up a cultural treasure like the Louvre. Just because I have been to 3 other of the top art museums in the world in the past months (Hermitage, Russian State Museum and Tretyakov Gallery) does not mean I should pass up opportunity to see possibly the best art museum in the world. So we set off once again by foot, this time taking a lovely walk along the lovely tree lined walkway along the Seine River and took our time to get there while enjoying a pleasant Parisian morning.
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| River walk |
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| French National Assembly |
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| Louvre's Grounds |
After getting into the actual museum building, through the very ugly pyramid, we decided to get the 2 most famous pieces of art there out of the way so we could enjoy the rest of the day in the less crowded parts of the buildings. So after obligatory viewings of the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo we were all set to see what I really wanted to see.
I was able to see some of my favorite paintings including; Liberty Leading the People, Raft of the Medusa, and Napoleon Crossing the Alps. We also toured the extensive Egyptian (including a room with just sarcophaguses), Mesopotamian and the foundation of the building where the medieval castle on that location is still partially visible. In the basement they had a modern Russian art exhibit. Yet again I can’t get away with not seeing and hearing Russian for a single day in France! The Louvre is a truly massive place and no human could possibly cover all of its exhibits in an entire day. I was happy t have gotten to about 1/3 of the rooms there and I saw all of the major portions of the collection I had hoped for, mostly skipping 17-19th century European paintings since that is what most of the Hermitage’s collection is and there are only so many of those a person can take in a limited time!
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| Liberty Leading the People |
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| Can't Escape Russian! |
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| Mummy Stockpile! |
After a solid morning and early afternoon of art and culture, we once again set out in the city with the eventual goal of reaching the Notre Dame Cathedral. After some obligatory sightseeing there and on the island around it, as well as a little souvenir shopping, we where hungry and had to decide on a dinner place. My family tends to be a big fan of the Hard Rock Cafe and its locations all over the world, while I know it would have been better to go to a real French restaurant, I could not resist the temptation to get some legitimate American food. It was a nice restaurant with some fun rock artifacts and good food. (I had macaroni and cheese, not much of that in Saint Petersburg!)
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| Creator/Creation |
On the way back we had another chance encounter with an amazing sight of the city at night. We were on the Chaps de Mars at around 9pm and where taking a few of the obligatory night pictures of the Eifel Tower and its searchlights, when at exactly 9pm the real show started. Hundreds of individual bulbs placed all over the tower flickering on and off is quite a sight. Not sire if I would necessarily call it a pretty sight, it would be quite annoying to live near or see every day which is why they do it for only 5 min at a time. But it was certainly quite a sight and one that is truly impossible to capture in a picture and will be a lasting image I keep from the city.
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| Night in Paris |
Next, in the thrilling conclusion to this epic tale: one more full day in Paris, followed by the monumental task of departing a city besieged by labor actions!
[Yes the title is in Russian. However, since I saw, heard and thought about so much Russian in Paris I feel it is a fitting title]
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