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Paris 2009 (continued)

More stuff from the Louvre...

Monster sarcophagus, about the size of a minivan.

Happy mummy.

These are supposed to be magic talismans.

A very large planter.

These pictures just don't do these columns justice. They were simply massive, and were among 36 that held up the Persian emporer Darius' palace at Susa. Keep in mind that these are only the tops of the columns, and the whole column would be 60 feet tall!

This is the Apollo Gallery, which was part of the palace when the Louvre was occupied by the king. It is a ridiculously opulent room.

Winged Victory of Samothrace

The grand gallery, for the Da Vinci Code fans out there.

Speaking of Da Vinci, there's the Mona Lisa. So many people, all trying to get a better picture than the one on the postcards in the gift shop ;)

Day 3: Musee d'Orsay

No pictures for this day, since I was a doof and left my camera battery on the charger in my hotel room. No really, it was on purpose so I could better appreciate the art (riiiiight).

On the way over to the museum, I got my first taste of one of the common Paris scams, the gold ring scam. Basically what this is that a young woman, possibly of Gypsy descent, puts a gold ring on the ground (preferably un-noticed) and reaches down to pick it up. Then she tries to press it into your hands, with an "Oh, you've dropped your ring". When you deny that it's yours, she then tries to sell it to you, or exort you for cash, sometimes with the assistance of one of her large brothers. Charming.

In my case, I actually saw her put the ring on the ground, which kind of ruined the performance, since I then just laughed at her when she tried to give me the ring. She was persistant though, since she walked after me for a few minutes: "Excuse me, your ring, speka English? Your ring?"

Anyway, onward to the Musee d'Orsay, which is now my favorite place in Paris. The building itself is just outstanding, and they had some fantastic collections. They even had my favorite painting of all time, Le Moulin de la Galette by Renoir. This museum covers the gap in time between the Louvre and the modern art museum, 1845 to 1915.

I liked this museum so much that I went back the next day, to take some photos, and get another look at my favorites.

Day 4: Grande Arche de la Défense, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower

Alright, on to day 4. On this day, I wanted to check out some of the bigger outdoor monuments, starting with the Defense Arch. This monument was finished in 1990, and is in a direct line with the Louvre and Arc de Triomphe.

I took the metro out here, since it was way too far to walk. This part of the city is very modern, and just as artistic in its way as the older areas.

I bought an elevator ticket to go to the top of the arch, since my guide book said it had a good view. The top of the arch has conference facilities, and art exhibitions. When I went, they had a history of computing exhibition, which was kind of fun. It was embarassing how many of the old systems I have owned! Unfortunately, you can only look out of one side of the top, but at least it was the view toward the Eiffel tower etc. A little bit hazy, but still a good view...

This is apparently a smokers booth, for use in non-smoking buildings.

One of the art exhibitions was of 3-d art, and came with 3-d glasses.

More artistic stuff outside.

Really big car? One of the many festivals and such that I saw being set up, but never seemed to be going on when I was there.

After the defense arch, I took the metro down to the Arc de Triomphe. You can also go up to the top of this, but after 3 days of museum walking, my feet said no :)

Took the metro down to the Eiffel Tower next, where I stopped for lunch. The tower is very cool close up, since it's so intricate. Once again, I didn't go to the top. I went up there back when my family came to Paris, and I didn't relish waiting in line. There were quite a few people here, including a group that was doing some kind of vigil service for Michael Jackson.

If you see one of the gypsy ladies like this, just don't make eye contact. They're constantly running scams on the tourists. When I was there, a group of French people were yelling at the gypsies, trying to get them to clear off.

At this point, I decided to head back to the Musee d'Orsay on foot. It didn't look like a long distance on the map, but it took a while to get there. Very nice walk along the Seine though.

So here, is the museum. The building used to be one of the main rail stations in Paris, and is very beautiful inside.

This room is decorated as it would have been during the rail station days. Shiny!

Renoir is awesome.

View from the 5th floor balcony of the museum. Middle pic is Sacre Couer in Montmartre.

Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. I never thought too much of this painting before, but in person the blues just pop.

Always liked this series by Monet...

My fave.. It's bigger than I thought. Wonder where I could get a full sized reproduction...

This was a surprise, didn't know Whistler's Mother was here.

Impressionism is cool...

This is a view of the restaurant where I had lunch the previous day.

I hadn't seen this type of classical-ish sculpture using different types of marble before.. Cool effect.

This section of the museum had a lot of art nouveau furniture. I totally want my house decorated like this! Looks like an Elven apartment from the Lord of the Rings or something.

More random art that caught my eye...

By the time I finished with round 2 at this museum, I could barely walk. I figured out on the map that I walked at least 10 miles on this day!

Day 5: Last day. Louvre part 2.

Since I didn't have to be a the airport until 6pm, I decided on another day at the Louvre. Seriously, a very big museum!

The crowd in front of the Mona LIsa was even bigger on this day...

Another one I actually recognized, La Liberte...

Some of the older religious art is unintentionally hilarious or bizarre to the modern audience...

"Get yer red hots here, eyeballs, boobs on a plate..."