The Louvre...there are more than 30,000 works of art on display, so we obviously didn't see a fraction of them! The Louvre is THE largest museum in the Western world. I was hoping we would be able to enter through the glass pyramid, but that didn't happen. Once inside, the bottom point of the pyramid was our meeting place.
The Louvre was a former palace and was built in stages over several CENTURIES. I hope our delegates realized how old Europe is... It originally was a medieval fortress, followed by a another palace called the Tuileries. Different kings tried to connect these two, but it wasn't completed until 1852. At that point, this was a rectangular structure. The Tuileries eventually burned down and now the Louvre is a U-shape.
We all started at the top of a staircase in the Denon wing of the museum... standing in front of the Winged Victory of Samothrace! This woman with wings once stood on a hilltop in honor of a great naval victory. One thing you notice is how windswept her clothes are.
From here, the students were divided into groups of 4 to go find 5 other pieces of art...including, of course, the Mona Lisa, (La Gioconda...meaning 'my lady Lisa') which was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Venus de Milo (Aphrodite) was another stop. The sculpture, a rare Greek original, was discovered in 1820, but was believed to have been carved in 100 B.C.!
Check out the ceiling...can you tell it was a palace?
Another ceiling...
The glass pyramind (obviously!) outside where many people enter the Louvre
My granddaughter's name is Thalia...and several years ago, I found her name in the Napoleon room at the Louvre. I wanted to point it out to her...it's on a panel on a door.
The ceiling in the Napoleon room
And then there are the paintings!
We picked up a guide after the Louvre who, after lunch, took us on a tour of the city. We stopped at Trocadero Square where we took a group picture with the Eiffel Tower in the background. She told us that Paris has a population of 2.1 million...but in the summer, the population swells to 9 million! She said Paris is THE most popular tourist destination.
My Parisian shoppers!
Invalides
Napoleon is buried here...
We went around the Invalides, a military hospital built in the 17th century by Louis XIV. The chapel of the hospital has a gold dome...and that is the Tomb of Napoleon. The Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs des Elysees, was commissioned to be built by Napoleon in honor of his victories. Underneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, who was buried there in 1920. The Champs des Elysees means "Avenue of Paradise"...and it's beautiful! All the high name designers have shops along the avenue. The Tour de France ends here... along with a huge parade on Bastille Day (July 14). Around the Arc is an enormous round-a-bout...with 12 boulevards leading into it. Each of the boulevards, except the Champs des Elysees, are named for generals that were victorious. The round-a-bout is CRAZY...there are no lanes and cars, trucks, and motorcycles are all cutting in front of each other. I'm always surprised to not see wrecks, but we didn't see one!
A little traffic on the Champs des Elysees!
Zoe was definitely a French shopper!
The building on the left is the American Embassy in Paris
This is the Church of Mary Magdeline...It's dark inside because there are no stained glass windows. There are 52 columns around the church.
Sacre Coeur
Montmarte
Escargot and frog legs!
It was the end of Day 14!
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