In the spirit of purposefulness, I rose early on Sunday and took the metro up to the Louvre. I am so, so lucky because the line closest to me is a direct route to the museum, and thus it is super easy and relatively quick to get there.
The line to get in was already long and wound around the plaza, but courtesy of my Carte Jeune pass I walked right up to the front of the line, and they let me through no problem. I was also able to get an audio/video guide free with my pass, and soon I was winding my way through the Greek and Roman portions. After having been to Greece and seen so much of the original in its original place, I felt shamefully superior, but I was soon humbled by the Winged Victory of Samothrace in all of her headless glory. Wow. I thought this was a "cool" sculpture in my textbooks, but standing below her up close and you see the wind blowing against her and the graceful tension of her struggling to stay upright. Wow.
By obligation I visited the Venus de Milo, and while I recognize its art historical value and beauty, I often find myself rejecting pieces which seem to me to be over commercialized. Take the Mona Lisa for instance. Yes, it is a great painting, but I always feel that its value today is not so much historical value as it is commercial value. So many people know the name and can recognize it; it is a celebrity. But, the definition of a celebrity is something or someone that is known for being known by a lot of people. I never quite understood how one's importance rises simply because more people know who you are, but at the same time I cannot discount the work altogether. I am better for having seen both prior mentioned pieces, but not in some profound way that will change my course.
It was; however, a great joy to see all of the Italian Renaissance works that I had spent so much time studying these past few semesters. Rounding each corner I found a new Fra Lippi, Botticelli, Cimabue, Ghirlandaio, Paolo Uccello, di Vinci, Mantegna, Titian, Fra Angelico....there are just so many wonderful artists! To see these works in person is almost like seeing a completely different painting. The size, colors, and textures are so different than what you imagine. It feels a bit surreal when you realize that the reproduction in your mind seems more real than the actual paint, wood, and canvas before you.
My favorite part of the museum however, was the Richelieu wing and all of the sculpture in the quiet and spacious covered courtyards.
Due to their large size, the courtyards seemed like they were actually outside and the there were surprisingly few people, so it seemed even more secluded from the busy Greek/Italian areas. It was so much easier to appreciate the works in that portion because you were not having to constantly think about pickpockets or the throngs of Japanese tourist groups pushing and shoving for a photo in front of each work. I walked in circles on that level, and after a quick jaunt back into the busier parts, I decided that I had seen enough for one day and I would come back when it was a bit slower.
By that time several hours had passed and it was time for lunch, so sat down in the gardens behind Notre Dame with my crepe and granny smith apple for a little down time. I then continued on a wandering tour of that area basically going in a giant circle.
The metro home was quiet on the weekend, and the rest of my afternoon passed without event as I did my homework for class this morning.
After dinner, however, I was sitting in my room going over some flashcards, when a huge thunder and lightening storm came out of nowhere. Watching it roll in over the city with the flashes of lightening and loud thunder was so surreal as for some reason it never quite occurred to me that big cities have storms just like we do in the country. On a scale of 1 to 10, watching a thunderstorm over Paris from the 29th floor is about a 18! It came and went in the course of about 30 minutes, but when I woke up this morning, the wind was still howling and rain was hitting against my windows.
The wind and drizzle basically lasted all day which was fine because most of it had to be spent inside anyways. This afternoon I had my first class, or potential class depending on which two of the six that I am signed up for I choose to take. This one was the Fundamentals of Islam at the Catholic Institute of Paris. It is a university that, obviously, specializes in religion, and it also has a large number of foreign and older students. In my class there were only about 3 out of 30 students that were actually from France. The rest were either exchange students or had lived in France for only a couple of years. I really enjoyed this make up because I didn't feel out of place like amongst a group of Parisians. '
The professor was very nice and understanding of language barriers. It was incredibly hard to follow and understand what he was saying because my French listening skills just aren't there yet, but I have hope for the semester. There are two others that I think are about my level, so I'm not alone in my lost-ness. I think this is going to be a really interesting class, but since I haven't been to the others, I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it or not. Well, it is getting a bit past my bedtime here, so I must go. Bonne nuit!
-Kate Alice
p.s. sorry for any typos, je suis fatiguee.
My favorite courtyard
Due to their large size, the courtyards seemed like they were actually outside and the there were surprisingly few people, so it seemed even more secluded from the busy Greek/Italian areas. It was so much easier to appreciate the works in that portion because you were not having to constantly think about pickpockets or the throngs of Japanese tourist groups pushing and shoving for a photo in front of each work. I walked in circles on that level, and after a quick jaunt back into the busier parts, I decided that I had seen enough for one day and I would come back when it was a bit slower.
By that time several hours had passed and it was time for lunch, so sat down in the gardens behind Notre Dame with my crepe and granny smith apple for a little down time. I then continued on a wandering tour of that area basically going in a giant circle.
A surprisingly good trio busking on the bridge
After dinner, however, I was sitting in my room going over some flashcards, when a huge thunder and lightening storm came out of nowhere. Watching it roll in over the city with the flashes of lightening and loud thunder was so surreal as for some reason it never quite occurred to me that big cities have storms just like we do in the country. On a scale of 1 to 10, watching a thunderstorm over Paris from the 29th floor is about a 18! It came and went in the course of about 30 minutes, but when I woke up this morning, the wind was still howling and rain was hitting against my windows.
The wind and drizzle basically lasted all day which was fine because most of it had to be spent inside anyways. This afternoon I had my first class, or potential class depending on which two of the six that I am signed up for I choose to take. This one was the Fundamentals of Islam at the Catholic Institute of Paris. It is a university that, obviously, specializes in religion, and it also has a large number of foreign and older students. In my class there were only about 3 out of 30 students that were actually from France. The rest were either exchange students or had lived in France for only a couple of years. I really enjoyed this make up because I didn't feel out of place like amongst a group of Parisians. '
The professor was very nice and understanding of language barriers. It was incredibly hard to follow and understand what he was saying because my French listening skills just aren't there yet, but I have hope for the semester. There are two others that I think are about my level, so I'm not alone in my lost-ness. I think this is going to be a really interesting class, but since I haven't been to the others, I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it or not. Well, it is getting a bit past my bedtime here, so I must go. Bonne nuit!
-Kate Alice
p.s. sorry for any typos, je suis fatiguee.
1 comment:
Thank you--so much--for these colorful posts, Kate. Reading them over and over.
More photos!
DDL
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