Ending at the (Obélisque) Bastille Monument - we were crossing a busy street and trying not to get hit, so we took a quick picture and kept moving. The Tuileries Garden is directly behind the Monument - which you can see a few trees. We veered left and walked all the way around. Wouldn't seem like a big deal - except we'd been walking all day long, we were hungry and I really wanted a crepe, but wasn't wanting to stand and wait for one.......and it was 1 mile from this monument, around the Garden and to the entrance of the Louvre...........As you can see it was late at night by the time we finished our Champs-Elysee walking.
beautiful!
Tom Hanks here we come!
To the art: Athena of Velltri
I learned 2 things about statues - most are of women. they are perfectly symmetrical. They always pose 'unbalanced' to give the body more curves and the arms are raised opposite of the feet. The human body was beautiful and women were curvy and full. So there I went all the way to Paris and learned something I probably already knew. :)
The other thing we learned is the women are usually naked, their having lavish parties with alcohol, sin, war and death. And nothing is simple. It's extremely detailed and precise and always on a large scale. I think the above picture was actually on the ceiling.
Seriously....how long would it take to paint this?!
The perfect example of the Greek theory of the perfect woman. Venus de Milo - what's awesome is this is the original!!! (130-100 BC)
and this...... the Mona Lisa. Probably one of the smallest paintings in the Louvre, but one of the most famous. There is a rope keeping us and everyone else back, then this plated glass and spotlight. We were expecting to not be able to even see it - too many people. Because we went at night an hour before close, it was empty. We walked right up, took pictures and took another couple's picture and moved on. Compared to the other extravagant paintings - this one is relatively simple and one of importance mostly because Leonardo da Vinci painted it, but it's a portrait of a Lisa Gherandini, the wife of wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo.
We wondered around for a little bit longer, but the museum was closing and out we went. We only saw one wing, but we came, we saw, we photographed, and loved every minute of it!
I was tired and my feet hurt.....beautiful night huh?
This concludes our Paris tour - next on the list:
Versailles
the Eurostar
and......London!!
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