Paris and the Louvre

Briggie and I got up early and found a little cafe on the corner of a traffic circle. As we sipped our cafe au lates and munched the seriously amazing croissants we marvelled that the french don't run into each other that often despite the breakneck speeds they drive at and the reckless abandon that is the attitude they share. We have yet to see a car that is not scratched and dented so assume these little touches happen all the time but have yet to see one. Very scary indeed!

So here we are in front of the Louvre. If the assembled look a bit tired its because they are. At 3am last night all were still awake and then up at 8am to get to our new accommodations and off to the Louvre. Sleeping in this heat is a bit of a challenge.

Here is a shot of where Brigitte accidentally slipped in the tub. Fortunately for all of us there was no long term damage. She recovers well from adversity.

 So here's my take on the Louvre. To really enjoy what it has to offer you need a significant amount of knowledge around either art history or European history but preferably both. I have neither. That said, at the Louvre, you have the opportunity to review 2 main forms of expression. These are sculpture and paint. The museum boasts a collection of French Italian and dutch painters that I think is unparalleled. The museum is immense. I'm guessing that there are 5 or 6 football fields of space contained within. So there are  A LOT of painting to review. At the top of the list is the Mona (Take a break) Lisa.

 There are a lot of paintings (to make the point again) - and for me, though the subject matter changes subtlety from one to the next, they don't really hold my interest. Most are dark reminders of the short and brutal lives of those who came before us, the gross entitlement of the aristocracy and the reliance on relion as a force for managing the poor huddled masses. Yes- I am ignorant in the ways of renaissance painters...and European history but there are my thoughts.

But when it comes to sculpture! I'm all there. The Roman, Italian, French and Greek sculptures are fantastic. And while the male form is so well attended to by all the masters, the female form is seriously under-represented. Not enough female gods is the problem. Where were the equal rights folks back then? It's surprising that the nice people at the human rights tribunal haven't been involved in this issue where they can spend even more of our money on useless endeavours. (Sorry - got some of my own history on this)

I'm not sure what the Venus de Milo (pictured above) is all about. Sculpted by an unknown Greek and missing a few parts, I will say that it is pleasing to the eye. It's not clear to me why it gets top billing though.

There are a number of other sculptures of Aphrodite and other females that I enjoyed. The Greek "draped subject" in either female or male is amazing. In some sculptures the material is clearly wind blown again the body of the subject and each fold ripple and twist of the fabric is an awe-inspiring reminder of just how special they were. How did they do that?????

Onto the male forms! They are Exceptional. Spartacus, Hermes, Hercules, etc.  are all there with each muscle perfectly sculpted. You can't help but marvel at the ability of the sculptor to so perfectly express the beauty of the human form. My favorite was Spartacus who I clearly look very much like. You be the judge :)

Below are a couple others that I though were amazing. Check out Aphrodite draped...isn't that something!

We had planned to head next to Versailles but I once again was over ruled and we headed back to the Champs Eylesey for more shopping. On the one hand there is so much history to see - on the other there are so many cool things to buy - what's a Dad  to do.

I did like the new Toyota. (all the major car companies have spots on the TCE) It's very much like a smart car but a bit more refined looking. And at 4.5 l per 100 kms it rivals my scooter for fuel economy.