Saturday - "Le Louvre"

I walked to the Louvre today. It's about a 25 minute walk. The streets, because they are at various angles and because they change their names in the middle of the block, for no apparent reason, are difficult to navigate. It's easy to get lost and I did. No problem, me thinks....just ask for directions. "Mademoiselle, Ou est le louvre?" (Miss, where is the Louvre?) A young woman answered in French that she didn't understand me. Here in lies the struggle. You think you sound perfectly fine, but it isn't enough. So this afternoon, as I was doing my weekly shopping, I popped into une librarie (a bookstore) and asked, "Est-ce que vous avez un dictionnaire d'anglais-francais?" (Do you have a English-French Dictionary?). The girl answered me in French. First time.

I found the Louvre at 10:30. You enter through the glass pyramid that was so central to the book, "The de Vinci Code". The lines were short. Note to self: go early- (the French aren't "early birds") and go at this time of year. Paris is visited most often in the summer and the lines are super long. Once, inside, you take an escalator to a lower level. It is a cavernous, reception area with kiosks in every corner. The Louvre is divided into areas of interest: e.g. paintings, sculptures, and/or periods of time. You can't see everything in one day (sensory overload) even though you buy a ticket for the day - 10 Euros/ adult. So I picked an area I was interested in. Napoleon's apartment in the Richelieu Section. There are guided tours on a cassette with earphones which are a great idea BUT, be careful. I was about to pay the 6 Euros when I asked (quite accidentally) if the tour covered the points of interest in the Richelieu Building. "No", the guide said, "it does not". So always ask first.

Before, I got to the apartment, I wandered through 16 - 17th century sculpture. It is overwhelming and the pieces are huge - "bigger than life". They have been chiseled from marble for the most part. I stared at a pair of 2 leaping stallions, each carrying a warrior. The detail was unimaginable, folds of clothes perfectly replicated. There was armor and weapons and expressions. You could see the sweat. They were probably, I'm guessing, 7-8 feet in height beyond the granite block from which they were carved. The pair of facing statues were displayed in the Tuillerie Gardens for a long time - then moved into the Louvre. I have described a sculpture, but there are thousands, just as beautiful, just as dynamic. What I'm trying to say is that they start all looking the same. It isn't fair, but I do think there is "sensory overload".

Napoleon's apartment is almost laughable. You look at the riches (everything, I mean everything is gilded in gold. You have to wonder why the Revolution didn't begin earlier - maybe the peasants weren't privy to his domicile). What isn't gold is red velvet, red brocade, crystal, porcelain and more. The walls are so lavish with gold moldings, there is no room for paintings. The coiffered ceiling is painted (like Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel different picture). Don't forget the very large porcelain lusters. It is opulence on opulence. The ceilings are 16 - 20 feet high; the drapes are red velvet. A crystal chandelier is in the middle of the main salon and must be 7 feet in diameter, layering crystal to the top of the structure. The furniture is upholstered in red velvet. The moldings are ornate - well everything is over the top. A gold, molded mirror extends from the mantel of the fireplace to the ceiling...in gold, of course. But the dining room says it all. One table, with 44 leather upholstered chairs fitting comfortably around it, graced the center of the room. There are 3 big crystal chandeliers above it.

I was finished and went to the cafeteria. I picked up a sandwich which was expensive and not worth it. Leave the Louvre and find a bistro on the outside.

Tomorrow is Sunday. I'm taking the day off from blogging. I hope you are having a "Bon Weekend".

Sally