28 Jun - the Louvre and More

Margie and I took the Batobus to the louvre stop. On the way we passed the "underpass/tunnel" that we tried to use earlier in the week and it brought back such memories. We exited the batobus safely and headed up towards the Louvre.

We had just enough time to grab a quick lunch, for me a very tasty eggplant and tomato torte from the Paul's kiosk in Toulliers park on the way to the Louvre. For Margie I don't remember, same kiosk. It was a ham and cheese of some sort.

We met Maureen at noon right on time in the covered entry. We zipped inside  and after getting our bearings we headed up 

inside to of the  Richelieu wing of the museum to the section called "Napoleon's Apartments".   which are amazingly over the top.

I loved these chairs. Margie really did too but where would you put them?
Wiki says "The Musée du Louvre —in English, the Louvre Museum or simply The Louvre—is one of the world's largest museums, and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, France, it is located on the right bank of the Seine river in the 1st arrondissement(district).   





                                                                            

Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet). With more than 8 million visitors each year, the Louvre is the world's most visited museum. (and we knew it to be true by the number of people that were there when we were there.)

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which began as a fortress built in the late 12th century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. 

The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of antique sculpture. 

( we noticed some paisley pigs in some of the rooms and discovered that there was an art show in some of the apartments that had nothing to do with Napoleon but was just there. There was odd art which seemed completely out of place and there was art which we were not sure if it was part of the show ar part of the apartments.)

In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly  decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces. 

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801.

 The size of the collection increased under Napoleon and the museum was renamed the Musée Napoléon. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. 
The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and gifts since the Third Republic.  

As of 2008, the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings." 

Found the impressionists at the other end of the Louvre and my favorite painting. There was a large bench in front of it full of people. It was larger than I thought it would be and I loved it.  Renoir. Did not take a photo as there were so many people.

Went back through the tapestry rooms again and Margie did not touch them. wandered through the sections that we had not seen yet. There were many.
we saw a great statue of three lovley nude ladies and I said that was us. and it was I am sure just not at the age that we were at , at that moment, but in our youth.

We stayed at the louvre till 4 and our brains were definitely mush by the time we left. 

It was very hot out. the louvre had been air-conditioned and so we did not realize how hot it was. We wandered through the touliers, in the shadse as much as possible, to the batobus stop, past the arc de triumphe stop and got off at the Eiffle Tower. Checked out the dinner cruises for that night but they were booked and we did not have the right dress anyway. Dress code? Basically no runners.

We decided to get Dinner boat tickets for friday night at 630, they said they had a vegetarian menu. We had to pay to hold our reservations so there would be no missing it and we might have to leave Versailles a little early.

We caught the Batobus to the Notre Dame stop.

It was 32 degrees, and with 87 percent humidity it should have been raining but it was sunny and clear.

I tried to Check out the RER schedule for Versaille on friday but could not figure it out.

We grabbed a bite to eat  just off the square in front of Notre Dame. after that refreshing pause we went to St Chapelle for a Bach concert. The last concert we went to there was so good, we were looking forward to it very much. 

We got in and took off our shoes and the cool tile floor felt so good.

 Now you have to understand that I loved Bach, but I had known many people, including musicians, who did not like Bach and I could not figure out why. Now I know. 

This concert was bad Bach, probably executed brilliantly and right on key and probably perfect, but it was terrible for the lay person like myself and Margie and Maureen to listen to. One fellow (from the previous night's ensemble ) playing his violin. This concert was very different from the one the last time we were here. The Brandenburg concerto is my favorite Bach, but I have to admit that, after this concert,  I am not  the fan of Bach that I used to be. Now I am not so sure I want to take up the violin after all!

After the concert Margie and I Checked out another RER station and could not figure out that schedule either. Maybe the bad Bach or too much art had befuddled our brains. We would try again tomorrow morning. 
On the way back home we saw more musicians and people on the bridge. It was a very busy pedestrian night since the temperatures were now very pleasant. 

 we stopped for an ice cream, vanilla for me, choc 2 flavours for Maureen, mint choc-chip for Margie. we browsed and shopped our way home. there were still quite a few shops open 

Margie needed batteries so the next morning I would endeavor to find some early and we were asleep by 1030.