Yesterday was Louvre day! After our usual breakfast of lots of bread and yummy hot chocolate we made our way to the monstrosity ( I use that term in a good way) which is the Musee De Lourve. The museum is huge. Even one wing of it is overwhelming, it extends many blocks. Once you realize the museum in in the shape of a U and 2 other sides are just as long, well you can imagine my shock and awe. I knew it was big, but not THAT big! We entered into the courtyard where those 3 glass pyramids protrude from the ground. Whether its because they have become famous and associated with the Louvre or because the designer actually created a successful juxtaposition of architecture, it was a beautiful site. Michelle wanted to wait on the ridiculous line there but I had read about another way to get tickets so I finally was able to drag her to find it. It was located in this fancy underground shopping center and the line was much better. We finally got our tickets and headed in. What a mad house! To make it worse it was just a lot of people but a tonof tour groups...and yes, a lot of them were Asian tour groups, my favorite! My mom thought we couldn't do the Louvre in a day so the bet was on!
We started in the ancient Greek and Egyptian art. Now mind you I took many art history classes in school so I knew what I was looking at and taking pictures of. When we came to the Venus de Milo, the famous Greek statue of the woman with no arms I was excited, so cool to finally see it in person! Of course there was a huge crowd around it pushing and shoving because its the real version of a picture they've seen in a Greek restaurant...sigh... Of course another Greek favorite of mine was...wait for it...under renovated!! Of course it was, story of my life. We pushed on nonetheless and just walked through our art history books, finally seeing the real thing.
Right before we broke for lunch, we walked through the apartments of Napoleon. So freaking cool! I hate to say it but I might have been more impressed with those than the ones from Versailles. While these rooms were just as elaborate, they seemed much less crazy than Versailles. Definitely one of the highlights for me. We had lunch at some cafeteria where the best thing about it was Michelle mistaking an anchovy for a slice if bacon. Now was time for the paintings. Never have i been so impressed with a painting collection. Most museums have only a few large works and the rest are on a more normal scale. Not here! Giant rooms filled with giant paintings, one right after another. A giant hallway filled with famous masterpieces was another highlight for me. Just to stroll down there, surrounded by incredible talent was inspiring. Right off this hall resided the home of the one and only, Mona Lisa. And what a crowd was in front! After some pushing and shoving I finally made my way to the front. After a bunch of pictures I actually stood there to really look at it, something no one else did or seemed to care to do. Its a great painting, it really is, and I love Da Vinci, his style is different from his fellow artists, but I don't get how that is the most famous painting in the world. There are so many other incredible works out there that are filled with more symbolism and mystery and just so much more dynamic than of Miss Lisa. I wonder if Da Vinci is watching the scene that takes place every day in front of his work and just laughing his head off. Enough artistic criticism from me. It was humorous though, there was almost a rumble in the Asian jungle in front of the Mona Lisa. Some botox injected old blonde asian lady was getting pushed and it seemed like a fight might break out.
We wandered around some more, checking out more and more art when we decided we couldn't do anymore. We may not have seen the ENTIRE Lourve but we did everything we wanted to see plus some. We easily could have finished it if we stayed longer. See Ma!! What did we tell you?! Granted, we definitely hustled through there, but we saw a lot and got to admire what we wanted to see.
There was this Japanese noodle place I had read about and so we headed to Japantown for dinner. We couldn't find it unfortunately and found out later my book said the wrong street. We ate at another Japanese place, which was good, but still wanting to try the noodle house that originally brought us there. Michelle had been talking about macaroons non stop the entire trip so we finally went to a bakery to pick some up. After being super tourists and getting our berets( there is a reason for getting them, I promise!) we headed back to our hostel. We instantly broke open the macaroons and devoured them. I had never had them before and they were sooooo good!!
Right now we are in Geneva, waiting for our bus to Chamonix. The site of the snow capped Alps were gorgeous and I cant wait to see them up close!
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