Completely In Love with Paris - Day 2

Yesterday, we ran all around town, seeing the Notre Dame, the Hotel de Les Invalides, the Opera, the streets of Paris, and the Eiffel Tower, enjoying a cafe lunch and rich French dinner, and ending it all cruising the Seine and seeing the City of Lights. Today, we'll start bright and early, boarding the bus, luggage and all, at 8am, in an effort to see only two places, though these places are both worthy of a significant visit each. We start with the Palace of Versailles and end at the Louvre.

Chateau Versailles

Chateau Versaille, or the Palace of Versailles, was the home of King Louis XIV, the "Sun King." He spent his childhood in the small hunting lodge, the central part of the building. His bedroom is behind the three arched windows below the clock, facing east. With ideas of grandeur, he transformed the little chateau into a palace, adding the North and South wings at an estimated cost of half of France's yearly GDP at the time!! The grounds are huge, with acres upon acres of incredible and gorgeous gardens and a Petit Canal running east-west, intersecting the Grand Canal running north-south. With only two hours to visit, we had very little time to go outside after our indoor tour. The whole place was exquisite. I can't believe we actually stood in the Hall of Mirrors, which Crazy King Ludwig in Germany tried to recreate in one of his castles, Herrenchiemsee, near Munich.

Approaching the palace was a tingling experience. The parking lot is located below the palace, and we had to walk up toward it, on huge cobblestones; the area was wide and open. All the while, looking toward the palace, we could see the golden gates and golden highlights on the buildings, reflecting the rising sun's light back on us, creating a vivid and rich, though humbling, welcome. No wonder he was called the Sun King! How amazing to think that years ago this courtyard buzzed with hundreds of people, from peasants to nobles to kings, all scrambling about in their daily activities. Imagine the sounds of the horses' hooves and carts rolling on the stones, the bustling, the movement. I was in awe of the place, and we hadn't even been let inside yet!

The original hunting lodge is in the middle. The clock is in the center with the three arched windows of King Louis XIV's bedroom just below it.

The Royal Chapel, where mass was held every morning at 10:00. King Louis XIV would look down from his balcony, while the lowly nobles knelt, with their backs to the altar, worshiping God, and King Louis! Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI were married in this chapel. (Steves)

I see someone's reflection in the glass =)

Beautiful staircase

Can we say "gilded"?

The chapel again, from King Louis' balcony.

The Hercules Drawing Room - What a fancy place to have fancy parties! The painting on the ceiling has part of the crown molding painted into it, creating the effect of a sunroof opening up into the heavens. Hercules hurries up to heaven on a chariot, late for his wedding to the king of the gods' daughter. The scene echoes real life -- Louis XIV built the room for his own daughter's wedding reception.

I could not get over the marble. How eye-catching!

In the Hercules Drawing Room is a painting of Christ at a Venetian party. Painted by Paolo Veronese, it was a gift from the Republic of Venice. King Louis liked it so much that he had the whole roomed designed around and because of it. The room's columns, arches, and frieze match the height and style of Veronese's painted architecture, which makes the painting an extension of the room.

This is the King's Salon, displaying pictures of four of Louis XIV's heirs, which he outlived except for one, his 5-year-old great-grandson Louis XV, seen on the right (Louis XIV reigned for 70 years!).

The Venus Room - At Versailles, Love ruled. In this room, couples would cavort beneath the goddess of love, floating on the ceiling. (Steves) Pleasure was the key at Versailles. Louis XIV was too young to rule when his father died. He and his mother were treated poorly in the meantime by the French parlements. They were basically prisoners in their home, the Royal Palace in Paris (now, the Louvre). After attaining power, Louis XIV made Versailles a pleasure palace, maybe as his way of saying,"Living well is the best revenge." (Steves)

The Mars Room, or the Guard Room. Mars, the Greek god of war, rides in a chariot pulled by wolves. In the corner are bronze cupids, heavily armed with the artillery of love!

The Apollo Room, the grand throne room, reminded everyone that Louis XIV was the Sun King, lighting up the world with his presence. In this painting, the sun god Apollo drives his chariot, dragging the sun across the heavens to warm the four corners of the world.

The War Room - This stucco relief shows Louis XIV on horseback, triumphing over his fallen enemies.

Looking from the War Room into the Hall of Mirrors

The Hall of Mirrors was a modern-day marvel of architecture and wealth. Mirrors at the time were rare and quite the luxury. The number and size of these mirrors was astounding! The hall is nearly 250 feet long. There are 17 arched mirrors, matched by 17 windows letting in the breathtaking views of the Gardens. There are 24 gilded candelabras, 8 busts of Roman emperors, and 8 classical-style statues. (Steves)

I couldn't help but imagine what this room would have been like, lit with hundreds of candles in the chandeliers, beautiful, pompous people dressed in silks and fine clothing, dancing about to a live orchestra under King Louis gaze. No wonder King Ludwig wanted his own place like this!

The ceiling chronicles Louis' military accomplishments, with Louis in the central panel and cupids playing cards at his divine feet. (Steves)

View from one of the 17 windows in the Hall of Mirrors looking over the gardens

View from the King's Bedroom looking out over the main courtyard and gates

The King's Bedroom - Yes, he actually slept here. Waking up and going to bed were public affairs, fine events. I couldn't do it! This room is in the exact center of the palace, overlooking the main courtyard, looking east, toward the rising sun.

I couldn't get enough of the Hall of Mirrors!

A very small portion of the exquisitely manicured gardens

The Queen's Bedroom - This is where the queen and the king, 'did it,' although it was well-known that the king warmed more than one bed. 2 queens died here, and 19 princes were born here. Royal babies were delivered in public to prove their blue-bloodedness. (Steves) The last queen to sleep here was Marie-Antoinette.

Marie-Antoinette's mahogany chest to hold her jewels

This is the Salon of Novels, where the wife of King Louis XV would meet with her friends, discuss politics and gossip, and whatever other queenly topics she would find appropriate.

What a beautiful blue marble fireplace

The Queen's Anti-chamber, where the family dined on stuffed birds, truffles, mutton, ham, and so much more. This is the room where Marie-Antoinette and her husband were captured and dragged off, eventually to Place de la Concorde, and beheaded.

Restoration work

This is a slightly lesser quality version of 'The Coronation' than the one found in the Louvre. France revolted and tossed out its 'divine' kings, only to be overtaken by an Emperor: Napoleon. Here we see Napoleon crowning himself emperor, while the Pope, all the way up from the Vatican, sits behind him, looking a little miffed at having his job taken away.

Opposite "The Coronation" is "Distribution of Eagles" (not shown), and in the same room is "The Battle of Aboukir," depicting Napoleon's general and brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, looking bored while his horse is kinda freaking out. All were painted by Jacque-sLouis David.

I forget what this room was called, but its walls were lined with dozens of portraits, and two large paintings.

I love this!

I loved the staircase here, and the ceiling was beautiful.

This. Is. Napoleon.

More of that luscious marble

The steps have been so worn over centuries of use

View from the gardens - the second story looks in on the Hall of Mirrors.

Looking down the Grand Canal

In the Latona basin is this really cool fountain. Adam and Rachael got up close to it and really enjoyed the turtles and reptiles. Upon further investigation, we found that they were 'peasants'! The theme at Versailles is Apollo, the god of the son, associtaed with King Louis XIV. On top of the fountain are Apollo and his sister Diana (the huntress) with their mother Latona. The unwed mother, insulted by the peasants, called on Zeus (her children's father and king of the gods) to avenge the insult. He swooped down and turned all the peasants into the frogs and lizards that surround the fountain. (Steves)

I liked this sign: "Be careful of rolling too fast down the hill in your wheelchair!"

The Louvre

Oh, Versailles was neat! What a treat. We left that place in awe of the opulence and scale of grandeur we had just seen. Two hours was just about right to see the palace and a touch of the grounds. On a warmer day, we would have loved to spend the entire day just perusing the gardens. As such, the air was a bit cold, and we had our last sight to see yet ahead of us: the Louvre! *tingling with excitement!* Thankfully, Gabriella had showed us a video of the Louvre, highlighting its most famous exhibits, and she also gave us a map of the place, both well in advance of our visit. Adam and I picked out which exhibits were 'must see's' for us and planned our route accordingly. You might think 3 hours at the Louvre would be plenty of time.... if you'd never seen it! The museum, a former palace, is huge! We did not eat lunch before setting out (even though we were hungry!), but this proved a good thing as we almost didn't have enough time as it was! However, we were just barely able to see everything we wanted, which was a good thing. Rachael and Zach were troopers. Rachael trucked along with us at the fast clip we were going very well, letting me pack her up the stairs when necessary. Zach stayed in his stroller and was so good. However, he did spend the whole time in there sitting in his stroller barefoot! I'm telling you, this kid does not like shoes. We got a few looks, but at least our kid wasn't screaming! =)

Anyways, we hopped back on the bus and started for the Louvre. To learn more about this historic building, click here.

Entering the Louvre from the underground parking garage was this neat room, with ancient walls and cool lighting. I had a rough moment before this though =). We were told to remember our bus's spot number, because so many were there and they all looked so similar. The number was B28. Adam said, "That's easy! 'B' is for Beth, who's turning 28 this year." Oh, no! You had  to bring that up!! ha ha Needless to say, we didn't forget our parking spot!

What's this? Why, it's the upside down pyramid. We're actually here!!!!!!!

This is so beautiful. I didn't even notice the rainbows until we got home and reviewed the pictures afterward. I still can't believe we were here!!!!!

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures. It's just so pretty!

The first place we went to was the Denon wing. It has the most 'stars' of the three wings (the other two are Sully and Richelieu). We were going to see the Mona Lisa first, but got sidetracked by the Roman and Greek statues. I'm not sure who made these or why, but I just got a kick out of the four male statues, back to back, staring down at their thangs!! =)

What a view =)

Adam and I just loved the Gallery of Statues. We both agreed that statues are far more easily appreciated than the 2D paintings. You can look at a statue and immediately know what's going on. There were so many amazing statues, gorgeous curvy women, strong men. Some were erotic, but most just showed the true beauty of the human body. The motion depicted in the Fighting Warrior shows strength, athleticism, physique. I could have spent the entire three hours in just this gallery alone. Silly us, though, we left this gallery, not noticing the Venus de Milo nearby. We ended up coming all the way back to see her later on. Meanwhile, we made our way into the Grand Gallery, the glorious uppermost level of Denon wing housing works from the famous painters of the Italian Renaissance, including Raphael, Michaelangelo, Bellini, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, and Veronese -- the big ones!! (Yes, we did notice that we saw works from all four of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." haha!)

 

Cimabue's "The Madonna of the Angels" - This was a very typical theme from the 13th century, the Age of Faith: Mary was almost a cult figure at the time. These images often featured somber faces, poor 3D effects, generic angels. But the idea is the same: Mary is to be worshiped and loved. 

This is Giotto's "St. Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata." While pondering the pain of Christ's torture, kneeling on a rocky Italian hillside, Christ appears, on six wings, shooting lasers from his wounds to the hands, feet, and side of the empathetic monk, marking him with the stigmata. After emerging from medieval Europe, painting was rather crude, 3D was difficult to portray, but this was the beginning of the Renaissance, and things were just getting started!

Another photo of "The Madonna of the Angels" to show its size.

Looking down the Grand Gallery, a quarter mile long! The skylights let in warm natural light. A most impressive setting for these masterpieces

Here is Andrea Mantegna's "St. Sebastian": a Christian martyr who looked more like a classical Greek statue in the contrapposto stance (all weight on one leg).

Leonardo Da Vinci's "St. Jean-Baptiste." The Louvre houses the largest collection of Da Vinci works: 5, including this one, the "Mona Lisa," "Virgin, Child, and St. Anne," and "Virgin of the Rocks."

In a special room off the Grand Gallery are two famous paintings. This one is Paolo Veronese's "Wedding Feast at Cana," where Jesus (center) changed the water into wine. In typical Renaissance style, Christ is portrayed as a party animal, enjoying created things just as much as everyone else. The wedding couple, on the left, is virtually forgotten.

And, of course, opposite the feast, on a wall all her own, behind bullet-proof glass, is Leonardo's Mona Lisa (click here for a multimedia tour). (Also, click here to learn more about this intriguing painting.) She's not huge, but she's visible. And amazing. I remember standing there, right in front of her. It felt like she was looking right at me, smiling, happy to see me, as if wanting just say "Hi" and tell me a secret, girl-to-girl. There was such a crowd around her, but I feel like I got to spent some quality time there, just me and her, if only for a minute or two. I'll never forget seeing the Mona Lisa. (Adam spotted her first as we were walking down the Grand Gallery. She and the Wedding Feast were in a special room just off the main gallery.)

This is Raphael's "La Belle Jardiniere," a classic Renaissance piece. Mary (check) and John the Baptist are looking toward Jesus in a very symmetrical shape (triangle). There's 3D (fore, middle, back ground), real imagery -- it's all there. And it's beautiful.

I couldn't take pictures of every amazing piece we saw. Heck, we didn't get to see many of them, rushing past lesser masterpieces to see the major superstars. I did however snap a few quick pics of ones that caught our attention, for one reason or another. This one I just loved, seeing the horseback rider chased by this weird mythical beast. So interesting!

This is another one that caught my eye. There were several images of men on horseback with exotic animal skins as their saddles. Peculiar. By the way, this piece is about 5 feet tall, very big.

Another large room full of the large format French paintings. In this gallery was Eugene Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the (French) People" and many more, Napoleon's Coronation included.

Yes, the Louvre was a palace, and every room showed it, gilded, larger-than-life, ornate, amazing.

This is the better quality version of Veronese's "Consecration of Napoleon." (We saw the other one at Versailles merely hours before!!)

This is another piece that caught my eye, and for good reason. Look at the lighting, the beauty... wow. This is Girodet's "The Sleep of Endymion." For a wonderful description and more information, please click here. Endymion the shepherd, a man of ideal beauty, is being visited at night by the goddess Diana in the form of a moonbeam. Her passage through the foliage is facilitated by Zephyr. In this early work, painted in Rome in 1791, Girodet, a pupil of David, demarcated himself from his master and foreshadowed romanticism. The idealized nude is antique in inspiration but the moonlight and the mysterious, dreamlike atmosphere are hallmarks of an emerging sensibility. (louvre.fr)

Swoon! Antiquities Grecques and Antiquities Romaines. Are we really here?! Pinch me!

This is the Parthenon Frieze, The "Plaque of the Ergastines" from between 445 and 438 BC, found at the foot of the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens. Wow! See this link to learn so much more!

A palace, truly!

This was another neat Roman statue, Messalina

Mosaic of the Judgment of Paris

This is the famous Aphrodite, or "Venus de Milo."  She was already broken when discovered. What beauty though. In the contrapposto position, she is a harmonious balance of opposites, looking left, while her left leg points right. Her upper half is smooth, her bottom robes, rough. With classic and full features, and a beautiful S-curve to her back, she is the essence of beauty.

A statue is to be viewed from every angle, something I love about them. Oh, how I need to go back to the Louvre, if only to study the statues!

A truly captivating piece, this is Canova's "Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss. The interactive "Closer Look" at the Louvre's site is absolutely worth checking out for this piece. Learn the story of with these two character's of myth; fall in love with them just as they are with each other. ~swoon~

Adam pointed out this piece to me, and I can't find it on the Louvre's site. Look closely. How did the artist give the impression of a veiled face, in marble? True talent and artistry.

The "Rebellious Slave"

The "Dying Slave"

 In the Michelangelo Gallery are many exquisite works, including his "Slaves."

This was another piece that caught our eye. Again, I cannot find it on the Louvre's site.

This beauty is the "Winged Victory of Samothrace," created circa 190 BC. Here is a really neat multi-media page about this fascinating statue.

Then, we came to the Egyptian Antiquities. This took up most of the Sully wing, several floors of Ancient Egypt, displayed in thematic and chronological order. These exhibits were beyond incredible: sarcophagi, mummies, sphinxes, cats, statues... oh, my!

This is the Great Sphinx of Tanis, dating all the way back to 2600 BC. Wow! Its dimensions are 1.83 m high, 1.54 m wide, and 4.80 m long. Remarkable!

These little hippos were really cute. The big blue one even has a page of information dedicated to it.

 

Paintings from the Tomb of Metjeti, circa 2350 BC. Wow.

The above images were taken from the inside of the Chapel of the Tomb of Akhethotep.

This is Horus, a neat guy we found hanging out in Egyptian Antiquities.

Ancient Egyptian Jewelry

These are ancient Egyptian musical instruments. The far one is an Angle Harp. Click here to learn more about this neat instrument (I had to get a picture of these to share with my musical family and friends =)

Who doesn't love a Sphinx? These are part of the Processional Way of Sphinxes.

This picture is full of goodies!!!  This room is the Temple which displays vestiges of temples and temple statues from a number of sites and periods. It explores the structure and function of these “houses of the gods,” and the ceremonies that were held there. Check out the tall Palm Columns that once adorned the peristyle courtyard of the funerary temple of King Unas (2380-2350 BC) at Saqqara. Below these are the huge head and  base and feet of a colossal statue in the name of Amenophis III. Seated on the right is a colossal statue of Ramses II.

This is the Sarcophagus box of Rameses III. What I loved learning about this is that the inscriptions were actually very poorly done, grammatically incorrect, missing many parts. It suggested that, in the late New Kingdom, the monarchy was no longer treated with the respect it had once inspired.

Sarcophagi. Impressive.

These are pictures of the inside of Chancellor Nakhtis Tomb. How ornately decorated. The photos did not capture the amazing details inside of this beautiful piece.

This is the Seated Scribe, a statue of which very little is known: who is the image? the artist? He is very striking to look at, especially his carefully inlaid eyes.

Still can't get over that the Louvre is a palace. But really, what better place to display this most fascinating collection of the history of mankind than in a place of kings?

We spent a lot of time in the Denon wing. And, of course we had to check out the amazing Egyptian pieces found in Sully. But, we also had to make a trek to the Richelieu wing. This was easier said than done, as part of the access way around the palace was cut off due to exhibit changes. We ended up speedily walking all around the place to see only a few more pieces, but they were well worth it.

The Winged Human-Headed Bulls were so amazing. We made a special trip to the Richelieu wing to see these and the Hammurabi Codex. "Human-headed winged bulls were protective genies called shedu or lamassu, and were placed as guardians at certain gates or doorways of the city and the palace. Symbols combining man, bull, and bird, they offered protection against enemies." (Louve.fr) How cool are these? By the way, count the legs. Weird, huh? These sculptures are some of the very few remaining pieces from the Neo-Assyrian Period, reign of Sargon II (721-705 BC), because much of it was stored in Baghdad and the surrounding area, which was destroyed and looted when Saddam fell in 2003. This collection in the Louve is the most complete collection remaining of these items.

The Codex of Hammurabi (great multi-media piece right here) was a piece we made a special trek to see. It was all the way over in the Richelieu wing, which contained very few pieces that were 'must see's' for us. However, this piece was so important to us. I remembered learning about this from Mr. Moody in high school. On it is the first law code ever written, including the ever famous "Eye for an Eye." The monument is 2 meters 25 high and 70 centimeters wide and approximately 47 centimeters thick at the bottom and dates back to circa 1792–1750 BC. Wow.

The Marly Courtyard was very near the Codex and Bulls, so we dropped by. The four main statues in the courtyard were made by an uncle and his nephew. The statues of Fame and Mercury, commissioned by King Louis XIV, to sit on either side of the upper part of the horse pond, at the entrance to the park at Marly, were created by Antoine Coysevox in 1699. They were later removed to the Tuileries Gardens in 1719, leaving two large empty pedestals. King Louis XV then commissioned Guillaume I Coustou (Coysevox's nephew) to create two more equestrian statues to take their places. These became know as the Horses of Marly. Fame and Mercury were groundbreaking in their creation, in scale and use of a single piece of Carrera marble, the skill involved, and the very short amount of time it took to complete the statues. Both Fame and Mercury sit astride a Pegasus, rearing over military trophies. Coustou's "Horses Restrained by Groomsmen," the Marly Horses, were also made from each a monolithic block, and done under two years with a skill rivaling that of his uncle.


Whoops!! We forgot to see a few things in the Denon wing! So, after a mad scramble leaving from the Richelieu wing back to Denon, ever mindful of the clock, we made our way back to see two beautiful Mary statues.

This is St. Mary Magdalene. She's beautiful. Her hair flows, especially when viewed from the back. All out of marble.What an soothing piece to look at. I just loved her.

View looking out through the Pyramid.

Ok! We did it! We saw everything we wanted to see (or so we thought. We apparently missed the Apollo Hall with the crown jewels, but this we learned later!) We arrived at the Louvre hungry, but we didn't want to miss anything, so we put off eating until later.There are no rules against eating on the bus! Thankfully, we had enough time to not only eat, but to check out the Louvre's pyramid, too (though we didn't go outside; the security line to get back in was long!) We enjoyed some fantastic pizza and a Belgian tart. After that, it was time to get back on the bus (spot B28, remember? =). On our way out of town, we caught a glimpse of the Lover's Bridge, Pont des Arts. It sparkled with the sun's light reflected off thousands of padlocks on the bridge, each representing a couple who's sealed their love for each other by putting a lock on the bridge and throwing away the key! Adam and I wanted to do this, but we didn't have time. However, there's one in Cologne, Germany, which isn't too far away. We might have to check that out =) 

The ride home was pretty uneventful. We arrived in Ramstein, got off the bus, packed ourselves back up in our van, and drove ourselves the rest of the way home. It was a long day, a long weekend. But, the memories we made were absolutely priceless! We have so many other places to see while we're here in Europe, and I am so excited about those. However, I do really hope that some day, some how, we'll find our way back to Paris again.

P.S.: Rachael received a Madeline book and doll from her cousin Caty for a Christmas gift exchange a couple years ago. We had been reading this book to her quite a bit recently. She loves the part where Madeline shows off her scar. Rachael has to find the scar on the doll, talk about her scar, and mine, too. Anyways, we read her the book again, and it had a whole new meaning for all of us. Rachael immediately recognized the pictures of the Eiffel Tower. Adam and I recognized the pictures of Place de la Concorde, Les Invalides, and so many others. As if the book wasn't cool enough already, it completely came alive for the whole family after our trip to Paris. I am just in awe of how traveling and books introduce us to this beautiful world we live in! Au Revoir!