My inability to comprehend the finer things in life is not something I make any great effort to hide. While I am a great reader and happily bury myself in 17th and 18th century literature, I struggle with "Art" in general (and "Music," to be clear).
I, like most humans on the planet have at some point and time found myself greatly moved by a sculpture or a painting, but the notion of going to a museum to spend an afternoon looking at bunches of art all clustered together strikes me to be about as interesting as no-fat cottage cheese.
This trip was not my first time in Paris, and I can confess publicly, in our now private enclave, that the last time I was there I did in fact visit the Louvre. Jeff and I snuck in the back door without paying the entry fee to use the loo. So, no I had never seen Nike, or Mona Lisa or any of the other great works of art the Louvre has to offer. But I had seen the toilets, and I can tell you they are rather nice.
That said, our entire trip to Paris was predicated on a whim of the children and included in that whim was a visit to the Mona Lisa. A bit of research unveiled a guided program for children that took them through the Louvre and exposed them to major works of art in a fun, friendly way. It was a bit on the pricey side, but give that we were staying in the City of Great Expense without paying housing costs, plus, Louvre, once-in-a-lifetime, twice-if-you-only-view-the-loo, that kind of thing, I mentally justified it.
And Claire turned out to be really great with the children. She's a Canadian painter, living in Paris for the moment with her French boyfriend. One of those many Blithe Travelers we encounter during our sojourns.
This is Ain Ghazal. At 9000 years old, Ain is the earliest work that the Louvre has in its possession. Ain is on loan to the Louvre from the Jordanian government. Tom happened to be wearing his Jordan t-shirt, so Claire asked him if he'd been to Petra. And of course, she had too. The world is full of travelers.
This lion. I love this lion. He is a temple guardian, so is meant to be incredibly fierce. He's from Mesopotamia, so thousands of years old. I just wanted to take him home with me and put him in my (imaginary) garden. Dude, you are so cute!
This is actually the sort of thing that stops me in my tracks. Marble carvings that are so alive you almost believe the fabric is in motion.
Close-up. Carved from marble. That someone can coax a three-dimensional shape from stone with this kind of detail (and, this is a pedestrian example) blows my mind.
The money shots. We'll start with Venus. One day these kids will be sitting in an Art History class and realize exactly how fortunate they are. While they were anticipating Da Vinci's great work, they have no context for Venus, so not sure they will much recall her until that moment in the future when they furrow their brows and realize they have actually seen that particular work in person.
Nike. Now that's fabric in motion. Astonishing.
And, there she is. Of course, you've seen her up close, so I'll give you the view of her environs: basically, all of the people taking her photograph. Her eyes really do follow you. The painting is gorgeous, mysterious and worth the price of admission.
One of the beauties of buying into a tour is that you get to jump the line on an otherwise rather busy day at a major Paris attraction. So, paying for the tour turned out to be a great benefit in that we got in quickly, had an informed and interesting tour, and were able to see many major works of art without consulting a single building map.
The tour only lasted two hours, and since we had day tickets, we considered having a quick lunch and heading back to view more. But, you know, the sun was peeking out. And there were goofy photos to be taken. So, off we went, to find lunch, and enjoy a walk along the River Seine.
Next: Love Locks
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