Lost..........in the Louvre

It finally happened.  I got lost.  But I got lost in the Louvre, which isn't such a bad place to get lost in.  There's lots of cool stuff to look at! I started my day with an interview pour un stage (an internship) at La Cuisine Paris!

Here's their website: http://lacuisineparis.com/

I did half of the interview in French, and about half in English.  La Cuisine is owned by a Frenchman and his American wife, they are both very kind and did not seem to be offended by my French!  I'll probably start sometime next week. 

After the interview I had a sausage sandwich and orangeina for lunch (something I think my Dad would order!) I headed over to le Musee du Louvre!

The Glass Pyramid, built in the eighties.

(Da Vinci Code anyone?)

I actually entered from the underground subway entrance.  There were a lot of stores leading up to the museum, including the Apple Store.  You can buy an iPad and view great art all in one convenient location!  I joined the throng of tourists (read as massive tour groups of Asians following the leader who is typically carrying a plastic lightsaber so that everyone can see where to go) and entered the Le Musee du Louvre.  You might think dear readers, that I am spending all my cash on these museum trips and historical locations.  I'm not!  Sweet Briar gave us all "History of Art" student IDs so we can get into almost any museum or cultural thing-a-ma-bob FOR FREE!  I haven't paid for a museum yet.  La vie est belle. Which leaves more money for food and clothes :)  Alors, la vie est tres belle!  But back to the art.......

 Model of the original Palais du Louvre.  Le Louvre was originally the royal palace in Paris until the court moved out to the swamps (aka Versailles).  The stone wall in the background is the original walls of the palace.

Venus de Milo

(I always think of the Simpsons episode where Homer buys a gummy Venus de Milo from a candy convention....)

Greek Statues

The Goddess Artimis (or Diana if you're Roman)

Something tells me this guy likes to party...

 Another fantastic painting...oh wait, THAT'S JUST THE CEILING.

The Louvre itself is a work of art.

Gallery of Greek Sculpture

Got your nose!

Winged Victory

Napoleon crowning his wife Josephine as Empress.  This painting is ENORMOUS! I left the guy in the left corner as a point of reference for the size.

Close up of Bonaparte (or "Boney" as Horatio Hornblower's crew liked to call him)

 Artist working on a reproduction.  It was so cool watching him work!

Et voila....La Jaconde, aka the Mona Lisa! 

Sorry about the glare, but she's got a wall all to herself and a few inches of bulletproof glass in between her and the adoring fans.  The painting is on the smaller side, but is still absolutely stunning.

Les Poissons. The French word for still life is "La nature morte", which is literally translated into "dead nature".  Which is exactly what this painting is.  I found it quite ironic!

Sculptures by Michelangelo (Michel-Ange en Francais)

 Athena with an owl.  Clearly repping Kappa Kappa Gamma!  I think this would look perfect in our common room.

The Egyptian goddess Isis

Statues and columns from Ancient Egypt

The Egyptian god Horus

The Egyptian collection is MASSIVE.  That's where I got lost.  I kept saying to myself, "Oh, I haven't seen this gallery yet!" about 20 times.  There are so many statues, pieces of jewelry, sarcophagi, some mummies, canopic jars, you name it they have it.  So many cool things to look at and admire.  So after about 5 and a half hours in the Louvre, I found my way out and walked through the Tulieries gardens to my metro stop. 

I took a lot of other pictures during my visit, but I didn't want to crowd the post, so I just added the highlights.  Let me know which work of art in the Louvre is your favorite in a comment!

Bisous,

Allison