Day 5 in Paris

Hi everybody!

Today was an art day for us.  We got to spend 3 hours at the Louve, which wasn't nearly enough.  You wouldn't believe the size of this place.  It is a HUGE palace of past kings and emperors.  It is the Smithsonian of art.  The facility itself is a piece of art.  It has so much built in to its architecture.  Mosaic floors, murals on the ceilings...   We made sure that we saw the "must sees" first.  Olivia and I spent most of our time viewing sculpture.  Winged Victory and Venus de Milo are the most famous but there are many many master pieces housed at the Louve.  There are entire wings dedicated to different eras and styles.  We viewed the Mona Lisa, of course as well as The Virgin of the Rocks.  Pieces by Renoir, one of my favorite artists.  

Another thing that I didn't know before is that they still have intact the apartments of Napoleon III.  The extravagance of the place was somewhat disturbing after considering the fact that years before the monarchy was overthrown because of the fact that there was so much waste by the government living extravagantly while the poor people suffered.  The dining room table seated 44, each piece of furniture was a treasure.

After the Louve we visited a much smaller art museum called L'Orangerie which is across the Tuileries Gardens.  It houses more modern works, mainly impressionist pieces.  I have always liked the work of Monet but once you see the huge works on display there you truly understand the genius of him.  The building has a large area build specially to display Les Nympheas.  I only wish that we had been allowed to photograph them.  The way the paintings changed with the changing of the natural light as clouds passed overhead...amazing.

Next we walked to the Arc de Triumphe.  This is a huge arch that was built by Napoleon as a war memorial.  They have a tomb of the unknown soldier there with an eternal flame much like our own.  We climbed 284 steps to the top of the Arc and were able to look out over Paris.  The memorial is in the center with streets coming out from the square like the spokes of a wheel.  I almost didn't climb all the way up but Olivia made me.  We were all very sore today from walking so much.  It was worth it.  

Tomorrow we continue our adventure.  Au revoir!