May 20, 2012
Mar 30, 2012
Musée du Louvre
We dedicated our last full day in Paris to the Musee du Louvre, one of the largest and most visited museums in the world. It's collection of artwork, sculpture, and artifacts is colossal. It has transformed over the course of 500 years from a fortress, to a royal palace, to a meeting place for scholars, and finally as the museum we visit today- home to nearly 400,000 objects. We watched a video series on the Louvre before leaving for Paris to prepare for the visit. This was helpful as it made the museum feel a little bit familiar and not as overwhelming as I think it could have been.
The Louvre has some incredible pieces such as the Nike of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, and of course the Mona Lisa. The Venus de Milo, a sculpture of Aphrodite from 100 BC, was breath taking. She is provocatively posed and although she doesn't have arms you can image one arm holding something while the other tries to hold up her drapery which is almost falling off. Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, De La Tour, Le Nain, and Claude are all well represented here, as well as the Spanish school and the Italian Renaissance and Baroque artists. I liked Nicolas Poussins' "Autumn. The Grapes from the Promised Land.":
This was the final of a four part series of paintings done between 1660 and 1664: Winter; Spring; Summer; and Autumn. Originally painted for Cardinal Richelieu, today the "Four Seasons" are located at the Louvre in a single room. Poussin painted the series late in his life and was suffering from hand tremors at the time which made painting painful and difficult. Notice the enormous size grapes in this painting, perhaps a way to demonstrate the power of nature? We saw a great self portrait of Poussin as well, where you get a sense of confidence, organization, and education:
There really is too much to say about the museum. I highly recommend spending a full day there, but take a break at some point to reset your brain. We did that by taking a walk on rue Saint Honoré an ancient street that today has Fifth Avenue type shopping. From there we walked North to see the Palais Garnier, a 2,000 seat opera house completed in 1875. Like the Notre Dame, Sacré Coeur basilica, and the Louvre this place is very well known (it was the setting for the 1911 novel Phantom of the Opera). From there we walked back to the Louvre to take in more of the art and culture that Paris was offering.
We ended the day at Juveniles, a wine bar owned and operated by an ex-Pat from the Scotland. Located on rue de Richelieu, it's one of the oldest wine bars in Paris. A friendly staff serves delicious great plates of food along side their huge wines-by-the-glass menu. I asked for some advice on some food-wine pairings and the server knew his stuff. In fact I bought a to-go bottle of 2010 Cuvee Marie because we liked it so much. The Marie is made with 90% Gros Manseng and 10% Corbu and it's aged in mostly old wood for 11 months. The result is an acidic, spritz-in-your-mouth wine with wonderful minerals.
The Louvre has some incredible pieces such as the Nike of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, and of course the Mona Lisa. The Venus de Milo, a sculpture of Aphrodite from 100 BC, was breath taking. She is provocatively posed and although she doesn't have arms you can image one arm holding something while the other tries to hold up her drapery which is almost falling off. Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, De La Tour, Le Nain, and Claude are all well represented here, as well as the Spanish school and the Italian Renaissance and Baroque artists. I liked Nicolas Poussins' "Autumn. The Grapes from the Promised Land.":
There really is too much to say about the museum. I highly recommend spending a full day there, but take a break at some point to reset your brain. We did that by taking a walk on rue Saint Honoré an ancient street that today has Fifth Avenue type shopping. From there we walked North to see the Palais Garnier, a 2,000 seat opera house completed in 1875. Like the Notre Dame, Sacré Coeur basilica, and the Louvre this place is very well known (it was the setting for the 1911 novel Phantom of the Opera). From there we walked back to the Louvre to take in more of the art and culture that Paris was offering.
We ended the day at Juveniles, a wine bar owned and operated by an ex-Pat from the Scotland. Located on rue de Richelieu, it's one of the oldest wine bars in Paris. A friendly staff serves delicious great plates of food along side their huge wines-by-the-glass menu. I asked for some advice on some food-wine pairings and the server knew his stuff. In fact I bought a to-go bottle of 2010 Cuvee Marie because we liked it so much. The Marie is made with 90% Gros Manseng and 10% Corbu and it's aged in mostly old wood for 11 months. The result is an acidic, spritz-in-your-mouth wine with wonderful minerals.
Reflecting on our trip I offer the following travel tips that can be applied anywhere:
1. Learn to use the public transportation (if available) of the place you are visiting. Doing so allows you to learn the city more quickly and become independent. Plus it's cheaper and you don't have do worry about opportunistic taxi drivers.
2. Adapt to the local time zone to avoid jet lag. Adjust your watch to the local time zone as soon as the plane takes off and do whatever you would normally do at that time. This may mean sleeping on the plane and staying awake as late as possible once you land.
3. Use the local language as much as you can. We made an honest effort to speak French, and although our conversations were far from smooth, I could tell it was appreciated. Parisians were friendly and I felt welcomed in their city.
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