Day 2 - The Louvre

If it had been up to me we would have spent an entire day at the Louvre, the world's largest art museum. But there were some in our group that said no way so I had to settle for cramming in all the many things I wanted to see into half a day. We chose to go on Friday because the museum stays open later and we just basically crammed in as much viewing as we could.

We all felt the best thing to do would be to split up and explore the areas of the museum that interested us the most so David and I hurried over to the Egyptian section because I am all about Ancient Egypt.  To my horror, we found out that that area is closed on Friday.  NOOOOOO!!!! What a huge disappointment; I almost started crying right there in the Louvre. So, Greek and Roman antiquities it was.

I experienced my first annoying interaction with tourists from a certain area of the world when we got to the famous statue "Venus de Milo". There were a bunch of people crowded around it, taking pictures, but there was an order to it with people taking turns. Just as it was my turn this huge group of tourists came in and basically shoved everyone else out of the way so they could pose for pictures. No joke, I was literally shoved aside by several women. Boy, was I mad! David and I waited it out and once they moved on I was able to get this picture. She is truly beautiful!

We definitely got our fill of statues!

I could not get over how beautiful the ceilings were and couldn't help taking tons of pictures of the works of art above me.

Some mosaics...

and more statues.

I felt pretty tiny next to this one!

Some of the forty-three panels of the Ionic frieze of the Temple of Artemis Leukophryene at Magnesis ad Maeandrum.

Another famous statue - the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Definitely a favorite of mine!

More beautiful ceilings as we headed over to the paintings gallery.

And there she is - the Mona Lisa!

It's so amazing to be surrounded by so many works of art! The Belle Jardiniere by Raphael...

The Wedding at Cana.

I made sure to grab a picture of this one for Noah. The guy standing on the rock with his arms spread wide kinda reminded us of our favorite little 10 year old.

As we wandered through the galleries, we also got some beautiful views of the outside of the Louvre.

Back to the inside...

Cardinal Richelieu...

and the Sun King.

We're here to view the tapestries!

This painting. Maybe this is what started my obsession with Napoleon. Back in the 80's, when I came to Paris with my parents, I can still remember our trip to the Louvre and sitting in front of this painting for over an hour while my parents wandered in other areas of the Louvre. I was tired and jet lagged and the seat in front of this massive painting is where I found some rest. And now here I was, many years later, just as impressed with the majesty of the Coronation of Napoleon.

Those ceilings!

And more Napoleon - a painting of one of his brothers-in-law, Joachim Murat.

Napoleon himself - The War of the Fourth Coalition.

We had to search for quite a bit but we were finally able to find one of the paintings David was most anxious to see - Liberty Leading the People.

Taking a much needed break!

Viewed a few more things in the Greek, Roman, and Etruscan Department as we headed toward the exit.

The rain had finally stopped and the sun was out so we figured it would be a good time to admire the Louvre from the outside.

The Louvre pyramid in the main courtyard. It was completed in 1989 and serves as the main entrance to the museum.

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace which was originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century and later, in 1546, was converted by Francis I into the main residence of the French kings. When Louis XIV chose to live in the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre became primarily a place to display the royal collection, including a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. Over time many extensions were built to form the present Palace.

Nearby is a triumphal arch, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. It was built between 1806 and 1808 to commemorate Napoleon's military victories of the previous year. Peace riding in a triumphal chariot sits on top of the arch.

The Louvre is such a massive, beautiful building!

Really wanted to find this little purple guy in the museum but no luck; had to settle for his picture on the banner.

I was thrilled to find out that the museum was having a special exhibit on Vermeer, one of my favorite artists, so we headed there in the evening.

I took this before I realized we weren't supposed to be taking any pictures. Oops!

Lenae mentioned that she had seen some of Marie Antoinette's belongings so after Vermeer David and I headed off to find them. We asked several museum people where they were located but no matter how much we hunted, we could not find them. As I realized that I was passing room after room of amazing things, I slowed it down and tried to soak in the Near Eastern antiquities that surrounded me.

This item is so impressive - a column capital from the audience hall of the palace of Darius I. The capital capped one of the thirty-six columns that stood in the audience hall; together with the rest of the column it stood almost six stories tall!!!

A panel with sphinxes.

I can't even describe how I felt standing next to these majestic Lamassu or winged-man bull deities that guarded a doorway to a grand city or palace of Sargon II. Apparently lamassus represent the "zodiacs, parent-stars, or constellations". They are depicted with five legs which was done to create two perspectives: from the front they look to be standing, but in motion when viewed from the side. The detail on them was simply phenomenal!

While still searching for Marie Antoinette and running out of time, we stumbled across the apartments of Napoleon III. They were extremely opulent!

And that did it! 9:45 and the museum was closed. We never did see Marie Antoinette's belongings or thousands of other items but it just gives us more cause to come back. As we were heading down to meet up with Josh and Lenae, I glanced out a window and saw this beautiful sight. Ahhh, Paris!

And this is how we found them. I think we're wearing them out!

The Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel at night.

Heading to a late dinner and we came across this interesting glass thing.

The service at dinner was soooo slow. Was it because we were Americans? Who knows. We were all so tired and hungry and just wanted to eat and get back to the hotel but we continue to have such a fun time together and share lots of laughs.

Riding the train back to our hotel each night, we always pass the Eiffel Tower all lit up and spectacular. I really should have taken a picture of it; instead we just take selfies.