Last week, when we arrived in Paris, we checked in at the hotel, dumped our bags in the room and went straight to The Louvre. Have you ever known someone who was so beautiful inside and out that you were never quite sure where to put your focus? The Louvre is like that. I didn't expect to be as in awe of the buildings as I was the paintings and sculptures. The largest museum in the world, its beginning was as a fortress built to defend the Seine against the Normans and English in the 13th century. It is humbling just to walk its floors, and it is tempting to get lost in the beauty of the curves and lines of the stone walls and elegant stairways and archways leading you from one room to another. But then, then you glance around at the paintings hanging there and the statues and you see how perfect it all is, how history embraces history and sometimes stands back to allow the grace and glory of the partnership.
Venus de Milo
Psyche and Cupid
Needs no introduction
A portion of The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I
The Winged Victory of Samothrace
We spent six hours there. Six hours that went by in a flash. Not enough to make any real familiarity with the Louvre, but it was a darn good start.
2 comments:
whenever you want to go back - I'll come with you.
You got it, JK! Let's make a plan for 2013. Not kidding.
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