Paris with Mom, Dad, and Cat PART II

After our wonderful tour of Versailles, mom and I went museum-going! Our first stop was the Louvre. As the largest museum in the world, it was originally built as a hunting lodge in the 12th century, and then later served as a royal residence. It began its history as an art collection from 12 stolen works of art, including the Mona Lisa. Our guide book says it can be "frustrating, overwhelming or moving"--I found it to be frustrating and overwhelming.

Our timing may not have been the best because we came on an incredibly busy day. I don't always do well with crowds and in here it felt like Disneyland. I picked a collection I wanted to see--which turned out to be in the reject corner of the museum and took me 45 minutes just to get there.

Mom carefully thought out and hand picked the pieces she wanted to see in the Dutch collections. She had a much better experience than I did and was very happy she found her way through the museum and saw nearly everything on her list.

My advice for visiting the Louvre: bring your own water and EAT before you go. Unless you have a particular wish to see Venus DeMilo or the Mona Lisa, I would suggest picking some works outside the Italian painting and sculptures corridor.

After the Louvre, mom and I went to Notre Dame. This was a much more calming experience and we took the audio tour. I enjoyed the use of geometrics in the stained glass and the sculpture on the altar was particularly dramatic and moving.

As a wonderful end note to our trip, we visited the Musee D'Orsay. This museum holds the largest collection of impressionist works in the world and we took a tour of these collections. Our guide was very knowledgable about art history and technique, and we found the tour to be entertaining and informative. I learned a lot about the impressionist movement, its major figures, and noticed much more about the techniques that characterize impressionism. As a grand finale, we ended in the Van Gogh room which featured many of his most famous works.

Finally, we visited the Ethnological Museum which featured artifacts from cultures from all habitable continents and regions of the world. I think I enjoyed it a bit more, but mom also found it fascinating and informative about world cultures.

I should mention that we also enjoyed a spectacular dinner with the Grudzinskis and it was lovely to see their family. They have been so gracious over the years and I was glad to see Anastasia after three years. I wish I could say more about our trip, but I have already made my comments considerably long.

***Note: There are THREE Paris photo albums, not because of length but for organization. You can find all three links clearly labeled to the right.