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Goes without saying

Paris: we made a list of sights and checked 'em off -- "Cher-check!"


August 9-10, 1999:

Starting with the LouvreOur first destination was the Louvre. On Mondays they keep it open till 9:30 and it's half priced after 3:30 every day. Put those two facts together and when do you think the crowds show up?

The Louvre: Largest building in France   

Same time we did: 3:30pm, Monday afternoon.

   

      

      

Psyche and Cupid   

   

   

    

Venus de MiloThe signs in the Louvre point visitors to the most famous artwork with tiny pictures of them.

Left: Psyche and Cupid by Antonio Canova (circa 1750s).

Right: Aphrodite, or Venus de Milo, by artist unknown (circa 400BC)

   

   

   

   

   

Flashing Mona   

Thousands of visitors leave the Louvre every day with pictures of their flash instead of Mona's face.

Though it's behind protective plastic with special coatings, over centuries our flashes will slowly fade this unique masterpiece.

Eery emptieness   

   

After 5:30, they closed off whole sections of the museum and it got eerily quiet. As if the visitors had been turned to stone.

Sader examines his important parts   

We crept around and discovered the lesser known art pieces we liked.

This Roman statue is checking to see his important parts are as ordered.

   

   

   

      

   

Winter   Autumn

We found a series of paintings by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (circa 1500) showing the seasons as heads made of fruits from that season.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

"Venus and The Graces"Boticelli FrescoOne of Kathleen's favorite artists is Boticelli (real name: Sandro di Mariano Filipepi).

Here are two of his famous frescos, sadly damaged, but then it's incredible they can transport plaster paintings anyway.

   

Result of four hours at the Louvre
Henry after four hours at the Louvre.


Everything in placeWe got to travel the mass transit a lot since we based ourselves in Versailles for our Paris excursions.

This women kept looking at her faint reflection and patting her dyed hairs.

Print stand   

Fifteen years ago Henry was in Paris and remembers the same stalls outside Notre Dame selling prints of the sights.

   

Still working on it.   

Come to think of it, they were working on Notre Dame back then too.

Sixties crossBy far one of the most famous cathedrals in Europe, its grandeur comes from history, not size or brightness (it's dark and not as grand as you'd think).

They've adopted artwork from every age. Here the central cross is of 1960s vintage, with a silver sliver signifying the glory of God.

   

   

   

Rose windows   

Construction reconstructionThe cathedral's darkness owes itself to the conservative application of the new Gothic building techniques (flying buttresses and all). A reconstruction shows the crude tools they used. That wheel behind the column is their version of a crane: a laborer walks inside the wheel which pulls the stones up via a pulley.

Rain at The Île de la Cité   

      

After Notre Dame, it poured. We were grateful for our umbrella.

Others weren't so lucky.


   

   

      

Ferris Wheel      

We walked La Voie Triomphale from La Défense at the Louvre, along the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triumph.

      

      

   

      

Place de la ConcordeIf you've heard of the Place de la Concorde, this is it.

Tres French.

      

Picture of a picture of a picture      

Photo of a person walking in front of a photo of a person walking in front of a painting of a person walking.

Avante guarde art is still in in Paris.

The Arc de Triumph.   

We rested in triumph, munching baguettes, after checking another sight off our list.

Monument to Diana   

Then a chilling thing happened on our way to the Eiffel Tower.

We happened on the tunnel where Diana was killed. On the street above there's a hundred year old monument with a gold Liberty Flame that's been taken over as a monument to the fallen princess.

   

Unofficial Diana memorial   

Fallen she may be, but not forgotten. The messages cover the statue, the sidewalk and the cement fences. They're all from the last two months -- older ones wash off.

Diana you're a beautiful girl   

The pain people feel seems still current.


   

Henry under the tower   

The Eiffel tower is a kid's playground.

   

Looking upThe young of body blow off energy while they wait in line for their tickets to the top.

The young of heart lean back and wonder at the view.

Surely aliens who visit the earth after we're all gone will marvel like this when they look up the belly of Eiffel's tower.

   

Eiffel Tower and the Seine   

   

Join us in Toulouse, and the gateway to the South of France

Back to France


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