by: Irene Fantopoulos
Day 4
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| I.M. Pei Louvre Pyramid |
Today the Musée du Louvre was in order. It is one of the world’s largest museums and a major Parisian landmark. It is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement. The Museum is part of the Palais du Louvre, built originally as a fortress in the late 12th Century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress remain. During the French Revolution, 1789–1792, the National Assembly decreed the Louvre be used as a museum to display the nation's masterpieces. (Source: Wikipedia)
On the advice of friends, we entered the museum from the Carrousel de Louvre, the “mall” beneath the Museum. We waited mere minutes, thrilled that we didn’t have to endure the line ups from above. We were also pleased that our tickets provided us with in-out privileges.
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| Venus de Milo |
The first order of business was the Venus de Milo. The armless sculpture stood watch on a pedestal as ardent admirers flocked around her. Speculation suggests the statue depicts Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. We wandered through the Roman, the Greek, the Etruscan and the Egyptian sections before making our way to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The famous portrait was surrounded by people; making it hard to get a good glimpse. The painting was much smaller than its larger than life depiction. But her iconic smile did not disappoint.
We spent many hours admiring the hundreds of treasures and artefacts, but we barely scratched the surface of the 35,000 objects, some of which date back to prehistory. The selection and sheer size of the Museum were daunting. It is not unusual to spend weeks if not months, meandering through art laden corridors, before one could say they’ve truly toured the Louvre.
Day 5
We made our way to the Rodin Museum in the 7th , on 79 rue de Varenne. It was a sunny day, so we decided to forgo the museum itself, and instead, paid €1 to tour the expansive gardens filled with Rodin sculptures, including the renowned Thinker and the Gates of Hell. We sat a few meters from the pensive sculpture and wondered what had been on the model’s mind. Around the corner was a sculpture of Balzac, a French novelist. We walked along the two pathways, the Garden of Orpheous and the Garden of Springs. Beyond the park, one could see the baroque-style Église du Dome, part of Les Invalides, a hospital built by Louis XIV for wounded and sick soldiers.
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| Rodin's The Thinker |
We dined at L’Academie, on 97 rue St Dominique, Metro stop La Tour Maubourg. We ordered entrecôte (rib-eye steak) and frites. Satiated, we made our way toward L’École Militaire which afforded us a panoramic view of the Eiffel Tower. We strolled along the grassy lea of the Champs de Mars and admired the Wall for Peace, conceived by Clara Halter. Visitors may put messages of peace in the chinks of the wall which were designed for this purpose.
We hopped on the Metro and got off at George V for a chocolat chaud at the famous Ladurée, located on 75 rue Champs Elysées. Louis-Ernest Ladurée is credited with the creation of the double-decker macaroon.
Day 6
Another rainy day in Paris. We went to la Musée D’Orsay which is housed in a former railway station. The Museum contains a vast collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art, including artists such as Monet, Manet, Degas, Gauguin, Lautrec, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Renoir. We spent the majority of our time on this floor. Student artists sat in various rooms throughout the gallery reproducing the masterpieces.
From the Musée D’Orsay we went to St Sulpice. The gothic style church is not much smaller than Notre Dame de Paris, but not nearly as famous, at least to non-Parisians. St Sulpice was referenced in Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”.
From St Sulpice we went to Galeries Lafayette, a department store which is home to Gucci, Hermès, and Louis Vuitton, among others. We were awestruck by the art nouveau style with stained glass ceiling and steel dome. A view of Paris from the terrace on the 7th floor is a must and it is absolutely free. From there, gaze upon the omnipresent Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Centre Pompidou, named after the former French president Georges Pompidou.
Day 7
The morning focused on errands: a trip to American Express to cash traveller’s cheques; a trip to Air France for flight information; and a new suitcase for treasures purchased in Paris.
Our next stop was the historical covered passages, les Passages Couverts in the 9th arrondissement. The passages are shopping arcades built in the 1800’s, complete with glass ceilings. The passages were also used as havens from the bad weather. Given the rainy weather we’d experienced, it made sense and not unlike other malls where patrons take refuge from summer’s sweltering heat or frigid winters. Some of the arcades are no longer operational; but there are some retail establishments, bistros and cafés.
We went to the famous Stohrer pastry shop on 51 rue Montorgueil, Metro stop Porte de Clignoncourt. Nicolas Stohrer, a famed baker to the Queen of France and inventor of baba au rhum, opened his shop in 1730. Except for the surly server, it was a delightful pastry shop filled with pastries, jams macaroons and marons glacées (sugared chestnuts). We picked some treats to nibble on and continued our sightseeing around the 2nd arrondissement.
...to be continued
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