Paris: Monday

For our last day in Paris, we started off at the Louvre.  We finally beat those crowds by using our museum pass.  Fifteen minutes after the Louvre opened, the line was already an hour long, but we got right in through the museum pass line!  The Louvre was already very crowded, though, but you just had to deal with it.  One of the best things about the Louvre is that you can take pictures!  If the Louvre, one of the most famous museums, allows you to take pictures, then why can't the other museums?  Below are some highlights we saw at the Lovure.

Winged Victory of Samothrace, more commonly known as the statue of Nike

The Winged Victory of Samothrace is the highlight of the Louvre for me.  When my dad took my brother and I to Paris nine years ago, I wasn't that interested in art and didn't know much about it.  But when I saw this, I just loved it.  The statue is the winged goddess of victory, called Nike, in the form of a woman standing at the front of a ship with the wind whipping past her.  The statue was probably built on the island of Samothrace to commemorate a naval victory.  The sculptor is unknown, but it was made some time around 200 B.C.  The picture below really shows off the detail in the wings and the sculpted folds of the dress fluttering in the wind.  Even though it would be great to see the statue in its complete form, this version is fascinating all on its own.

My favorite statue, so well displayed in the Louvre

The famous Mona Lisa, behind protective glass

The tourists swarming around the Mona Lisa

Famous depiction of the Paris uprising in 1830, also the cover of a Coldplay album

Best picture of the trip ("Hey dum-dum! You give me gum-gum!")

Venus de Milo, another famous statue from 200 B.C. with an unknown artist

Cute cow sculptures from ancient Egypt!

The apartments of Napoleon III

Outside the Louvre

We did enjoy the Louvre, but were disappointed by the lack of signs in any other language besides French.  Some of the famous pieces would have pamphlets next to them in many languages, but of course, all the English ones were gone, so we couldn't learn about any of the pieces until we got home (sometimes we ended up reading about things in German).  This made it so that we could get through the museum quicker since we weren't doing any reading, but it made the visit less educational. 

And Darren and I must regrettably admit that we are getting some Europe fatigue, or at least European museum fatigue.  We've seen so many Italian, Flemish, Dutch, and French paintings over the past months, they are all starting to blend together.  We have seen some British, Spanish, and German paintings, but they aren't as common, and any other group is highly underrepresented.  On the plus side, I can most often identify the century and region of origin of most paintings I see without ever having read an art history textbook.  This is the best way to get an art education. :)

Walking across the Seine, looking towards the Ile de Cité

After the Louvre, we headed across the river back to the Ile de la Cité for some much-needed crêpes for lunch.  We had both sweet and savory crepes at two different places near the Notre-Dame and they were delicious!  What a great quick meal!  After our short lunch break, we took the metro out to Montmartre, the famous artistic district in Paris.  The main part of the district sits on top of a large hill where the Sacré-Coeur Basilica is located.  This church was was built at the end and the beginning of the 19th and 20th centuries, so it is relatively new.  I think the stone is turning black in some places because of oxidation, but I could be wrong.  The church was pretty inside, but, as usual, was mobbed with tourists.

The Sacré-Coeur basilica in Montmartre

The main street of Montmartre filled with artists selling their great paintings

After visiting Montmartre, we had some extra time before we needed to head out to the airport, so we decided to head back out towards the Eiffel Tower again.  Most famous pictures of the Eiffel Tower are taken from the Palais de Chaillot's elevated pavilion, which is across the Seine and in front of the Trocadéro Gardens, so we were trying to find that area.  Darren successfully navigated to it and the views were, as promised, spectacular on the clear Parisian day.

Darren in front  of the Eiffel Tower

Darren's great shot of the Eiffel Tower

Us in front of the Eiffel Tower

Crowds waiting in line

A view of the crowds on the second deck

After that, we headed to the airport and went home.  We're happy we'll be home for a while before more adventures begin when the Bakers arrive in August!