Whirlwind Paris trip - Sunday (Louvre)

First off, a clarification from Saturday. Jason said I should explain my observation that street vendors are confused about the word "bling". When we were at the Eiffel Tower waiting in line, there were very pushy street vendors walking around with their goods yelling "un euro!" They had big metal rings with cheap Eiffel Tower statues strung on them and were shaking them like a tambourine. Every now and then you'd get the vendor with the upgraded fare. These ones would walk right up to you and ask in a very heavy French accent "Do you want some bling bling?" When you looked down in their hands they would be holding a miniature Eiffel Tower that lit up. I guess in France, bling is something with a light.

Sunday our itinerary included the Louvre. That was all. We knew it could easily be an all day affair so we didn't plan anything else. Being able to see it from our hotel, we didn't need a map so off we went.

On our way we stopped in a cafe for breakfast. We finally had our pastries. They had a sort of breakfast deal with a plate of pastries, a glass of juice, and a cappuccino. Mmmmmm....my favorite was the flaky pastry with chocolate inside.

We moseyed on over to the Louvre. Jason was in front, I was straggling behind taking photos. On our way we encountered a wedding party taking photos. Now that would be a memorable place for wedding photos! We slowly made our way to the entrance and got in line. After getting my camera bag checked we descended into the famous pyramid to buy our tickets.

Now, I had fully expected to not be able to photograph any of the art inside. I had even considered leaving my camera back in the room thinking they wouldn't allow cameras inside. Boy was I wrong. They had signs posted saying no flash photography, but I saw an awful lot of bright lights going off and the staff didn't seem bothered by it. I wanted to run around like a crazy person yelling "Stop! You are ruining the precious art!"

Our plan was to make a b-line for the Mona Lisa. Because, if you tell anyone that you have been to the Louvre, you know their first question is going to be "did you see the Mona Lisa?" After that we figured we'd spend some time looking at the paintings around her and see where that got us.

Upon entering the gallery, I immediately noticed how close you are to the art. There is a little rope in front of each painting, but it is about 12" from the wall so you could easily just walk up and touch the canvas. Now, maybe an alarm would go off if you did that, but still, I was shocked they didn't have a more secure way of keeping people's grubby hands off the priceless art.

I was also surprised at the number of statues positioned right in the middle of the walkway. No little ropes around these. People were leaning on them for photos, and the dirt around the edges showed how many people had taken advantage of their close proximity. It seemed very strange - this would never fly in the U.S.

We wound our way to the Mona Lisa and got in the mass of people trying to get close enough for a photo. Mona was much better protected than everything else we had seen. The rope was much further back from the wall, and there was a huge glass encasement covering her. There was also someone stationed there to watch the crowd for any shenanigans.

After spending an appropriate amount of time looking at the Mona Lisa, we took in the rest of the French and Italian paintings on the same floor. This was quite an undertaking. Even with us not being art connoisseurs, it was several hours before we were done in that section. After a while all the paintings started to look the same.

I requested to see the Egyptian artifacts next. Here is where we got a bit lost. In case you aren't aware, the Louvre is HUGE. A giant "U" shape, with all kinds of nooks and crannies. Sometimes, to continue on the same floor you have to go up or down stairs. What I'm trying to say is, it is darned easy to get lost in the Louvre.

We walked and walked, down halls and then back the same halls, and finally found our bearings. In the meantime we saw a lot of the Objects d'Art section which was pretty interesting.

We saw palace walls, statues galore, and of course mummies. It was amazing, but as with the rest of the museum it was hard to tell exactly what we were looking at since all of the signage was in French. We got the gist though and eventually made our way through the whole exhibit (I think).

Our backs (not our tummies) eventually told us it was time to leave. I think we ended up being there about 5 hours, walking up and down countless stairs. What an experience.

The remainder of our day was spent visiting the area around our hotel and eating our last helpings of French cuisine. We opted for dinner and drinks in our hotel that night, which was the perfect way to end our trip to Paris. Very cozy and yummy.

Here are the last of my Parisian observations in no particular order:
1. The Louvre would be a very interesting place to visit sans art. The ceilings are amazing.
2. There has been a lot of pillaging since the beginning of civilization, and the result is the Louvre.
3. If you want to reach out and touch priceless art, you need to head to the Louvre.
4. French onion soup is still called french onion soup in France. Not just onion soup.
5. It is a tad creepy to spend a day looking at sarcophagi and tombs that once housed dead folks.
6. The Mona Lisa is much smaller than you might expect.
7. Italian paintings usually include either a severed head or what we would consider a private part. Sometimes both!
8. "No flash photography" is merely a suggestion, not a rule.
9. French waiters enjoy forcing their customers to order in French, even if they can speak perfectly good English.
10. While Paris is an amazing place to visit, it feels really good to step into an American airport where everyone is speaking English.

Oooh la la - Photos from Paris (part 2)