Carol was not in a rush to head out this morning so I could take in a longer morning bike ride. I was up in time for a sunrise ride but that mattered little with the heavy cloud cover and the potential for some light rain. I headed out one of the boulevards and was able to keep up a pretty good clip. After about 4 miles out, where it seemed I had reached the edge of old Paris, I turned left, planning to weave my way towards another boulevard and then head back. Along the way, I passed some interesting graffiti.
As I was about to find a boulevard to head back, I noticed to my left that there were hills and through the buildings I could see the steeple of Sacre Crouex. I couldn’t believe I had made my way back there. I looked for streets that would take me to the top, having to weave back and forth a good amount with many streets ending at stairs that ascended the steep hills. Finally, I reached the top feeling very elated. I certainly have climbed much higher hills but there was something about the experience of stumbling across the mt by accident in the morning that made me feel as if I had reached the top of a very high peak. Down I went, getting terribly turned around and not exactly sure what direction I was headed. Fortunately, I began to see road signs for the Opera which was located just a few blocks from our hotel. The rain began to fall as well but I was riding a bike in Paris so I had no complaints and eventually I came upon familiar streets.
The Louvre was on the agenda for the first part of the day. By this point in the trip, I had kicked back into a very much go-with-the-flow mode so whatever Carol wanted to see I was happy with. I guess we arrived at a relatively good time as the crowd was only moderately heavy. But gone was the reverence that was present at Rodin and Orsay. A sign asked to speak in a quiet voice but that did not stop one woman from yelling down from the middle of a staircase to her companions below. Photography was allowed but not flash: flashes were going off everywhere. The atmosphere was more of a carnival than a museum where one might be in awe. I think security gave up long ago on trying to maintain decorum.
Because other people had said they were disappointed in seeing the Mona Lisa, my expectations were very low. But, I found the experience very amusing. There was a rope that created a gap of about 10-12 feet between the masses and the painting. The crowd was about six deep with flashes constantly going off and people jockeying for position to get their picture taken with the Mona Lisa in the background. I thought Da Vinci was probably having a good laugh and I actually enjoyed being in the presence of this great masterpiece.
The height of this craziness came when I saw a woman, in her 50s, who had crossed the partition rope for the paintings in the hallway and had posed with her hand TOUCHING the painting, her palm cupping the breast of the woman in the painting. You could tell by the look on her face that she found this amusing. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I walked directly up to her, saying, no, no, no and pulled her hand away from the painting and telling her to get back. I don’t think she spoke English but my message was clear.
We headed to another part of the museum and, fortunately, the crowds were fewer in number and a sense of reverence was present. It seemed as if that there are tour groups that make a point of hitting only the “highlights.” This is too bad as there are so many wonderful lesser known highlights. Well, maybe it’s not too bad.
Wall just below the ceiling
Egyptian Dagger
Detail of Dagger
One thing I was not very good at as we walked through the museum was to write down the name of the artists as I took the pictures. I thing was would have been taxiing my brain a bit too much. So, the art work below will have to be enjoyed sans artist's nom.
Marquis de Sade (subject, not artist)
Moroccan Jewish Wedding
Renoir (artist, not subject)
Renoir
And, notice the woman in the background stitching away.
One piece Carol really wanted to see was The Lace Maker by Vermeer, a Dutch artist. Getting from where we were in the museum to the room with the painting was quite a navigational undertaking. But, that seemed par for the course for our time in Paris as we seemed to end up going in circles or semi-circles quite a number of times when we tried to get from point A to point B. This was the case again as it probably took 30 minutes for us to finally reach the room. Of course, there was plenty to see along the way.
The Lace Maker was much smaller than I had anticipated but still very enthralling, maybe even more so because of its size. And, how wonderful upon viewing it to think that it has been able to survive for almost 500 years for us to be able to see it.
Marly Horse. From the 1700s.
We really liked this juxtaposition of the warrior with child.
This appears to be a Greek statue but it is actually from the French 1700 period.
I love the detail of the this sculpted robe. This is from the ancient Greek period.
Another piece from the Greek period. Very sensuous and feminine.
I, along with many other viewers, did a double-take as I came around and viewed the sculpture from the front. Hermaphrodite, of course. But, I watched the faces of several viewers who seemed to remain baffled unaware of this personage from Greek history.
We did stop by Venus de Milo but it was one of those pieces that was on the group tour lists and the crowd made it hard to get a good look. From what I saw, she is a magnificent statue. Being the end of the day and very tired, we didn't feel like wrestling for a closer look.
We headed back to the hotel for a breather before riding out to Notre Dame later in the day. When we arrived at our hotel, there was a police car parked in front with its blue lights flashing and a throng of people on the sidewalk in front of the hotel and across the street. I edged my way through the crowd, getting some dirty looks but, hey, this was my hotel. The sidewalk in front of the door was clear and I walked through greeting the doormen who eyed me warily. Once inside I found out that Lady GaGa was staying there and people were waiting for her to come out. No, we never crossed paths.
Self-portrait
End of Part One for 13 June ride.
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