Visited the Louvre Museum tonight with Michelle, this was the third time we visited the Museum and it was a charm. Other visits, we came from above ground but this time we arrived under group, which added to the ambience of a unique visit. Tonight, we also broke with western tradition, and looked at the Egyptian and Persian art pieces, which were amazing. My favorite was the sarcophagi. The Louvre is a special museum because it is a time vacuum, what seems like 20 minuets could be 2 and a half hours.
The metro line 1 runs underneath the museum and makes for an underground entrance to the museum. I thought I was a revolutionary walking thought the underground, but the carousal was actually filled with store, so it was more like a shopping mall.That is what modern Paris is like though, shopping mixed in with valuable works of art, and the general branding of the underground.
My previous two visits two the Louvre could have been to the national archives in Washington DC. The museum is filled with French National and European works that can be overwhelming and at the same time lull the viewer into a false sense of hoogenity, as luck would have it, that is not how tonight was. The Persian arts were wondrous, stone blocks written by Darius[1], giant collums that lead the viewer to imagine the super structure they supported, and the use brilliant turquoise colors on the reliefs. Then, the next section was Egyptian art.
There is a brilliant collection of sargofagi at the Louvre, I marvel at the mythology of the Egyptian because it is fascinating, dieties with the heads of animals and the bodies of humans. The herigoliphics were Michelle’s favorite; the early alphabet is enchanting, sense neither her nor I can read Egyptian herigoliphics we made up what was written.
Two hours in the Louvre is good and long, as a class mate of mine used to say, though, I did not like him very much because he made comments about a certain football club I support, he was right in this instance. A good long visit to the Louvre is what I needed. Time flew, and in everyday world of vocabulary building, LSAT study, loosing time a museum was not a waste of time on this occasion. I can now say I’ve visited every wing of the Louvre, not just the Mona Lisa and Winged Venus, there is more to see, than what is famous.
The Lourve is great! The best part of central Paris by far. You should walk through the tuleries and visit the Monet museum. It is breath taking to say the least.
I love Egyptian ceramic art and calligraphy, it is all so beautiful to me. And also amazing that we can learn so much from them even though they lived such a long time ago. The Louvre would be my “dream musuem” to visit. How long did it take you to walk around the entire building or buildings? What does it mean to arrive above ground and under group?
hey thats really cool that you got to experience it a new way. my family took a trip there a few years back and i totally agree with you about the time warp thing. we spent hours in there without even realizing it, or covering much ground. haha. also when we went there there were tons of people sleeping outside around the big pyramid. did you notice that too. we actually ended up taking a nap there ourselves :)
Who doesn’t love the Lourve? I’ve been there twice, and my favorite part is the collection of antiquities as well. While I found the Egyptian pieces to be interesting, I feel like in American school they give us SO MUCh Egyptian history that I’m less interested in it now than I otherwise would be. So my favorite collection was all of the Roman artifacts.
It sounds so beautiful! It is amazing to be able to differentiate visits based on Eastern and Western art. The art sounds so magnificent. I remember the Mona Lisa was so puzzling to me because all the ruckus about a small painting that was behind glass and cordoned off by ropes with two guards nearby. Compare that to the giant wall-sized paintings. The Egyptian art sounds so wonderful! It is so complex yet simple. Sounds like you enjoyed yourself!