American Family in Longford: J'aime Paris et Le Louvre!

The entrance to the art museum is on the other side of the glass pyramid. One of the smartest things we did was buy some museum passes in advance, through Parisinfo.com. The tickets were delivered to our hotel and waiting for us when we arrived. This helped us to bypass what was probably over an hour-long line and go straight into the museum! Yay for us!

So right away we checked our coats and then went to the patisserie for some pain au chocolat and cafe! once we were sufficiently fortified, we headed up to see the Mona Lisa. The painting is a lot smaller than I expected, and it is behind glass and roped off so it isn't a highlight so much as a novelty!

It's a little crazy, and you can't really see it up close so it's a little sad. But see that head that rises above all the other heads down there? That guy had to have been about 6'7" or more - he towered over Steve as he walked by! Anyway, that's the crowd packing in to see the Mona Lisa.

The museum itself is just gorgeous. Many of the rooms are quite ornate and there are paintings EVERYWHERE!

Even on the ceilings!

Frankly, Steve was pretty enamored with the works on the ceilings...

I kept saying "Louis the Fourteenth, Blues" - you know - when Bugs Bunny is in a dress trying to select a song from the jukebox?! (Actually, he probably called it Louis the Sixteenth Blues...)

There were many artists and paintings that were unfamiliar to me (obviously, I am not an art historian or anything) but that's part of what made it so neat because so much of it was "new" to me, and there was SO MUCH TO SEE!!! We dedicated one day to the Louvre, but one day isn't enough time to see everything. I could spend several days there. We did not get to see the whole museum, but we did enjoy our time there and all that we did actually see.

It also made me want to study up on French history again. I did not take pictures, but there is an entire room of 24 paintings that were commissioned by Marie Medici who was the second wife of King Henry IV of France, and the mother of King Louis XIII. Peter Paul Rubens received the commission in 1621, which was to be a series of Marie's struggles and triumphs in life. Of the 24 paintings, three of them are portraits of herself and her parents. She is the star of all of the paintings, and they are HUGE. Anyway, it was rather fascinating - no self-esteem issues for her!

We did take pictures of some of our favorite paintings...

I wanted a picture of this painting. I was drawn to it and then read about it. It is by Bartolome Esteban Murillo done in 1658. It is a portrait of Inigo Melchor Fernandez de Velasco. I told Steve, "This is Inigo Montoya. You killed his father. Prepare to die." Of course, I gave it my best accent trying to imitate Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride, and then we laughed and laughed. Still, I do really like the painting.

(Just a mention about the scarf - it wasn't a fashion statement! They won't let you check scarves and gloves and such - NO SCARVES. ONLY COATS. I didn't see the sign and it made the guy at the coat check a bit cranky....)

Above is Goya's painting of Luis Maria de Cistue known as "The Boy in Blue". Steve was pleased to find this one. Steve was also intrigued by the vegetable, fruit, flower and tree faces...

Spring

These paintings were done by Italian painter, Giuseppe Arcimboldi (1527-1593). They represent the four seasons and were painted between 1563-1573.

Autumn

Winter

Summer

I will tell you that when I first started looking at these on Steve's camera, they were sideways and I couldn't figure out what they were!

The painting below is by John Martin, done between 1823 and 1827. It is titled Le Pandemonium and it is a scene/illustration of a part of John Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost.

Of course here we both said "But I AM Napoleon!" This is a painting by Paul Delaroche (1797-1856) called Bonaparte Crossing the Alps. The painting was done in 1850.

This was a Monet I had not seen before titled Snow Near Honfleur painted in 1867.

Hanging rabbits were a popular motif for a (very) still life...

This one is by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755). The painting: Still Life with Hare, Duck, Loaf of Bread, Cheese and Flasks of Wine was completed in 1742.

The following 3 portraits were done by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour (1704-1788) I liked his portraits because the people seemed so real - and so pleasant and likable!

This first one is of the sculptor, Rene Fremin (1672-1744).

The second one is of Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764).

This last one is of Jean Le Rond d'Almbert (1717-1783).

And finally, my favorite painting of all, a portrait of Madame Mole-Reymond, an actress of Italian comedy! This was painted by Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun (1755-1842). The painting was done in 1786. Marie Antoinette favored her (the painter) as well! I just love how she captures the beauty and grace of the actress and she seems so happy and light-hearted!

These are some shots of the scuplture area. We did not go through the rooms. We were quite worn out by that time. We had gone through rooms of ancient Egyptian pottery and it was incredible seeing things that were so, so old. But we did start to tire, which is understandable after several hours of walking around and viewing artwork, no matter how fabulous it is.

Below is The Winged Victory of Samothrace. It is a 2nd Century BC marble sculpture of the Greek Goddess, Nike. She is the goddess who personifies victory. This monument was found in April 1863 by a French archeological expedition. She is standing on a ship's prow. It was pretty fascinating.