Paris, PART II

Amber and I made our way to the Louvre as early as we could, but still managed to only get there by 10:00am, what with the extra-long ride on the RER train. John elected not to go as early, as he really doesn't have a huge appreciation for art, and definitely has an appreciation for sleeping in.

We first made our way towards the Italian Paintings, to see the Mona Lisa and some other famous portraits before the crowds got too hectic. Even early in the morning, the entire wing was swamped. The L-S grads we'd met at Neuschwanstein said, "You wait in line for like two hours, finally get to the front, and the Mona Lisa is actually this tiny little picture." Definitely an American view. If it's not huge and flashy, it doesn't live up to its hype.

Personally, I wasn't waiting to see the Mona Lisa to be impressed, I was waiting just to have seen it with my own eyes. When John asked why we were so set on seeing it and why it was so popular, Amber explained how revolutionary the painting was in a number of ways, and I explained that the mystery of the painting is what intrigues me; not only the fairly obscure and seemingly unimportant identity of the subject herself, but the alluring, mysterious smile that she is portrayed with. The fact that analysts have discovered three seperate layers of the painting itself also fascinates me; why was it redone? Why is the background so surreal and imaginary? Why doesn't the horizon match up on her left and right sides? Why doesn't she have facial hair? It's not that the painting is the best painting of all time, but it is definitely a captivating piece, which showcases some of da Vinci's true talent, and it revolutionized many artistic techniques. For these reasons, I respect it, and really wanted to see it in person.

Amber was fascinated by many of the paintings, but I discovered that my real interest lies in the Louvre's sculpure collections. Amber was most impressed by The Winged Victory of Samothrace and Venus de Milo. Being that I know nothing about sculpture, and only just discovered an interest in it, I was fascinated to hear her explain to me why each was so important and revolutionary.

Approaching the Louvre

Amber finally gets to the Louvre! Woohoo!

I forget what this painting's called, but it was okay.

Madonna of the Rocks, if memory serves me correctly.

Jason goofs around with the camera by one of the pyramids.

More goofing around!

John better hurry up before Jason starts doing martial a-- Oh. Too late.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

Venus de Milo

I loved how stylized this sculpture was. So angular, yet soft at the same time.

"Spider sense is tingling!"

There were several of these huge inner courtyards, packed full of amazing sculptures. I wish I could spend a few days just loafing around in here, sketching.

This was one of my favorite sculptures.

I can imagine how exciting sculptures like this must have been ages ago. Akin to going to the movies today, I suppose.

Myes. I ahm l'touriste.

Eventually John joined us, and we explored as much of the Louvre as we could before we were 'le tired' as Amber put it, and decided to break for some lunch. We still had a few hours left in the day, though, so we decided to continue our Museum stint and return to the Centre Pompidou, which, being that it was no longer Tuesday, should now be open for business.

Now, let me just say, I really appreciated the Louvre. The amount of history in that place is unfathomable, and it's almost hard to believe that the works you're seeing are actually the craftsmanship of the most famous artists of all time. My brain just has a hard time coping with that. The Centre Pompidou, however, was a complete brain gear-shift. Suddenly, the works of art you're looking at are not on display for their fame, or their history, or by virtue of the fact that their creator was reknowned or revolutionary, but simply due to the fact that they are fascinating works of artistic genius, and that's something I can better relate to. I guess I really feel that most of the works in the Louvre are out of my league; that I need to do research, and learn about the history not only of the piece, but the artist, and the times that the artist was living in, before I can truly appreciate the power behind the works. Modern art, however, is far simpler: Behold the beauty and mystery of the piece, and interpret it as you will. Sure, you can read about the pieces, and see what the artist was actually thinking, but sometimes, it's more fun not to!

Skinny car! How awesome is that.

"The Yellow Room," we called it. Not much in it, but it's awesome as you approach it. There are beds in it, and the yellow light is supposed to alter your melatonin levels and make you tired, I think John read.

Some hilarious and awesome stools.

I have a lot of respect for furniture design. SO crazy, and ingenious.

Emergency Air-Drop Piano.

I was bewildered by this piece of furniture before I realized that, no matter what side it rests on the ground upon, there is a different seating area on it that becomes avaliable. Neat!

Almost like digital smoke, but I think it was actually a building design. Each slice is a floor.

Rhino-Ceros?

Amber and I both really liked this one.

These metal flowers were mind-bogglingly intricate.

John! Wake up! There are other exhibits!

Cheese Chair!

We walked around the Centre until my knees were about to explode, and John's feet were about to unhinge themselves. But Amber was far from done, so we sat down while she pored over the library of books for sale in the museum's store.

One thing that is interesting about Germany and France, is that the days are MUCH longer. The sun stays up until well after 10pm each night, so when I'm suddenly thinking, "Ahhh, looks to be about dinner time!", it's actually more like bedtime. That being said, we got some dinner around 11pm, and quickly hurried back to catch the last train out of Paris. John had Doner Kebab, which Amber thought was disgusting. It looked pretty good to me, but didn't have anything over Schnitzel. Mmmmm. Schnitzel.

Oh, but how could I forget the sweets? If there's one thing we REALLY took advantage of, it's the fact that every ten feet is a store or a stand selling pastries, candy, chocolate, or some sort of sugar-coma-inducing delicacy. We filled up on as much as we could. There was one little place right in the central subway station, Chatelet, that sold a variety of amazing chocolates; Amber payed $3 for a single chocolate, and I tried one the next day; It was good enough that I would have payed a lot more. Yeah... Definitely a good thing we don't have places like that so abundantly around here. My diet would be shot to HELL.

I make a point of finding signs that make me giggle in every city we visit. Hehehe.