Day 2 Paris. Louvre and d'Orsay Museums

Today was totally devoted to the museums. From 9:00am to 5:30 pm we prowled to halls of these two fabulous treasure troves of art and artifacts. We started at the Louvre which is a labyrinth in and of itself. I have never been so directionally challenged. Well maybe on a few occasions but for a totally different reason. I had highlighted a few things I wanted to see before I left. So to skip the long lines to get in we bought tickets thru the Internet ahead of time. They came with a tour so we were ushered about by a guide who spent two hours describing an leading us to various highlights. I must say I am becoming somewhat suspicious of the reliability of the French . Yesterday one of the elevators at the Eiffel Tower was not able to operate. Today we waited 45 minutes with our guide and group because the ticket machine at the Louvre was not operating because of a computer problem. Finally they relented and let us in with the manager hovering over us at the entrance turnstile since they were unable to correct the computer problem. Two of Paris' main attractions and problems at both. Now I know why there are not any French astronauts.

The Louvre did not disappoint. We stayed there until 3:30 pm. Yes, we saw the Mona Lisa. We also saw many other beautiful works of art that to my untrained eye were even more beautiful. We also saw many artifacts from the Greek and Roman cultures. It seems it is as much a history museum as it is an art museum. We thought it funny when our French guide proudly announced to the group that the museum and the French government actually came into possession of the Mona Lisa legally. She admitted that many of the other treasures housed there were acquired by rather nefarious and sometimes illegal means. We then walked across the Seine to the d'Orsay museum.

Since the Louvre houses only works of art created before 1850 (there is a small group of impressionist pictures that were donated with the requirement they be housed in the Louvre) everything after that time goes to the d'Orsay. Here they had a special Degas exhibit focusing on his work with nude subjects. I can tell you the women of his time were well fed.

We saw many of the great impressionist artists work throughout the museum. We left there and walked back to our hotel. It was a very interesting and somewhat humbling day to be introduced to such a vast array of artistry.

Chris
Not much left for me to say about the Louvre except maybe some changes I saw since I was there with the kids in 1993. Today we were able to see the Code of Hammurabi as it was being restored when we were here in '93. It's significance to me was that I helped Scott with his award winning History Fair project by constructing the Code of Hammurabi out of dyed play dough. I also noticed the enormous crowds today, before we were there in the middle of July and the crowds then were nothing like the crowds today. Since '93, they have moved the Mona Lisa to it's own wall and put glass in front of it. It's a much better way to see it than the small area where it was before with the plexiglass covering it. It was very crowded there, but at least everyone could see it. At the Musee d'Orsay I loved seeing the Impressionist Section. Van Gogh always reminds me of my parsnts', as they introduced art to me thru his paintings. He used such broad strokes, brillant colors and sometimes strange paintings, that was very intriguing to me as a kid. I'm very fond of Monet, Pissarro and find Seurat style interesting. I will say that the Chicago Metropolitan Museum of Art certainly can give the d'Orsay a run for it's money with their Impressionist Art collection. I really enjoyed seeing Degas' sculpture of the ballerina with the green bronze top and cloth skirt. I love his ballerinas, from his sketches to his sculptures!

Now for a food update. We terporarily lost my bakery today as we were both so tired yesterday that we couldn't remember where it was this afternoon. :(( But after hunting tonight, we have found it again, and there will be maroons tomorrow!!! We had Pepper Steak tonight st s French Restaurant where they spoke no English and we actually got what we thought we ordered. Paul had a fabulous dessert...picture a macaroon ice cream sandwich made with Carmel ice cream. Yes, I will be having that too, sometime. On the up side (calorie wise), I did not have a croissant today and will replace them from now on with macaroons!!

We have been very lucky with the weather, it had called for rain in the advanced forecast for all 5 days we were going to be here. It's been cold to cool, with partly cloudy skies and little rain. I'll take that!

Tomorrow, Paul will again try the Eiffel Tower and I will wander.