The Paris Museum District

Ok, I am back to updating the blog! We are only on day three of Paris! On this day, we had to get up early and switch hotels. More on that to come, but the day started off walking from our new hotel in the St. Germain des-Pres area to the Louvre. On our walk we passed the famous cafe Les Deux Magots. Many intellectuals such as Ernest Hemingway used to frequent this cafe. We actually went back here later on this same day and had a cheese plate and a glass of wine. It was quite an elegant place. The waiters all wore white gloves and I could just imagine what it was like in the early 1900s.

St. Germain-des-Pres. This was a very pretty little church that was constructed in 1163. The original church on this site was built in AD 558.

 

Institut de France

 

Pont des Arts - this bridge linked the Institut de France and the central square of the Louvre. Notice all of the locks on the bridge. According to Wikipedia, In recent years, many tourist couples have taken to attaching padlocks to the railing or the grate on the side of the bridge, then throwing the key into the river below, as a romantic gesture.The City of Paris has not yet adopted a definitive policy on how to deal with this new fad.

The central square of the Palais du Louvre. The Louvre is huge! I was really shocked at how large the structure was.  The Louvre was actually built as a fortress in the 12th century and has since expanded into the gigantic palace it is today.

The pyramid was built in 1988 by a Chinese architect.

 

It was a bit chilly! Luckily I had a scarf which looks like a blanket!

This was the line to get in. Luckily, we had the Museum Pass and were able to go to the front of a special line to enter. Did not take long at all. Again, if you are going to Paris, get the Museum Pass. It is a life saver!

Once inside, everyone bee lines it to the Mona Lisa. It was like a cattle drive.

Everyone who had seen the Mona Lisa told me what to expect. It is small, dark, and not that impressive in person. I still wanted to see it just so I could say I have seen the "most famous" painting in the world. I seriously had to fight through this crowd to get a glimpse of her.

There she is. Leonardo da Vincis masterpiece, painted between 1503-1506.

This is the best picture I could get. Honestly, I just wanted out of there. I was getting pushed from all sides. People go crazy for this lady!

Notice Eric did not go with me to visit the Mona Lisa. He saw her when he was here with his family years ago. He decided it was worth it to see her again. He waited for me outside. After seeing my "must see", we wandered around the rest of the museum.

This is the Winged Victory of Smothrace, 190 BC, from Greece. This is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world.

View from below the Pyramid. Overall, we enjoyed the Louvre. It is big and very crowded, but the collection inside is pretty amazing.

After the Louvre, we walked through the Tuileries Gardens. We stopped and ate lunch at a cafe, Restaurant le Medicis Lecointre.

There was a random goat tied to a leash eating grass.

 After lunch, we went to the Musee de l'Orangerie. This museum has select works by Claude Monet and his contemporaries. These pictures of the Water Lillies are not mine because unfortunately they would not let you take photos of the massive paintings. I was very excited about going to this museum because since I was young I have always loved Monet. On one of my first trips to Chicago to visit my Aunt Patricia, she took us to the art museum downtown and I got a poster of a Water Lillies painting and we had it framed and I have had it ever since. I felt so "sophisticated" having a Monet in my room growing up :)

 As you can see, the works of art were huge. There are eight paintings these oval shaped rooms and you just stand or sit and enjoy them. Each canvas features a different part of the pond at different times of the day.

After soaking in the Water Lillies, we checked out other works of Impressionism and Modernism.

The entrance to the Museum.

Beautiful day in Paris! Crossing over the Pont de la Concord.

Another view of the Eiffel Tower!

It is worth noting one museum that we did not get to visit this trip, the Orsay Museum. I am sad we did not get here because it is full of Impressionist paintings, which I enjoy much more than any other period. It has the best general collection of Manet, Money, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Gauguin. Next time!