Le Louvre
Day 2 in Paris - I conquered Le Louvre!
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| Le Louvre |
This is where the French Kings used to live centuries ago. Until one day, King Louis XIV decided to build another castle or chateau in Versailles. This fact is - of course - giving us hints how a truly gorgeous this place is.
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| Standing in front of the glass pyramid @ Le Louvre: smiling & freezing |
As soon as I walked closer to the Museum, I saw big sparkling glass... In the middle of Le Louvre, there is a modern Egyptian style of glass pyramid designed by a Chinese American architect who was born in China. How is the combination of an ancient French chateau and a glass pyramid? Exotic! Please note the bold and underline of the word. Two thumps up!!
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| See the queue in front of Le Louvre |
These days, Le Louvre is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. There I was... standing, smiling and freezing... It was probably 5 degrees Celcius. Luckily the queue in front of Le Louvre “for those who have the pre-purchased ticket” was not long at all. Thanks Museum Pass! In the other side, there was seriously a long queue for those who wanted to purchase ticket at the entrance.
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| One of the 135 Arago medallions located in Le Louvre |
The fact is that some museum in Paris is free of charge. However, I would suggest that traveler with restricted budget in Paris (or who does not like Museum) can still go to Le Louvre to take pics in front of the glass pyramid. LOL.
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| One of the hall of exhibitions in Le Louvre |
The Famous Ladies in Le Louvre
There are many beautiful ladies to meet in Le Louvre. My focus was on the three beautiful ones. In fact, there were four including me - LOL. Seriously, the three beautiful and famous ladies are the following:
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| La Gioconda or La Joconde, it is the other name of Mona Lisa |
1-) ”Mona Lisa” by Leonardo Da Vinci
I had to struggle to come closer to see her, as everyone visits Le Louvre wants to meet her. Finally, I could stand maybe less than two meters away from her. There was only the red rope barrier between us and the Museum guard.
Everyone pays attention to her smile. But I wanted to pay more attention to her eyes. My loved one says that Leonardo Da Vinci painted her so perfectly so that her eyes look real. What do you mean? “See her eyes, and if you move to the right/left – her eyes look real and keep on looking at you – pay attention to outer end of her eyes”. Mmm... Perhaps it is true. I could not stare at her eyes long enough, as I was pushed by the crowd behind me.
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| Venus de Milo |
2-) Aphrodite - "Venus de Milo"
Dear all of the Aphrodite in the world, let’s meet the Venus de Milo...
Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty in Greek history. Personally, her name represents beauty and sexy characters. Plus, she is a goddess, she might have some supremacy and no doubt she has many admirers. #wink wink... Denger kata “goddess” bisa bikin para cowok kelepek2...
This statue - The Venus de Milo was discovered in 1820 on the island of Melos (Greece). It was presented by Marquis de Riviere to Louis XVIII who donated it to Le Louvre the following year.
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| Winged Victory of Samothrace |
3-) “Winged Victory of Samothrace”
The statue of this goddess was exhibited strategically in the “Greek” area in Le Louvre.
The first time I saw her, speechless... I stared at her without blinking. My impression? She looks so dominant with her two open wings. She is the “Winged Goddess of Victory” who is standing on the prow of a ship overlooked the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on the island of Samothrace. This exceptional monument was unearthed in 1863 on the small island of Samothrace in the northwest Aegean.
In my girlish imagination, please note that this is only my imagination: she stands with her head up bravely to face the enemy, she protects her people under her wings, her country won the battle and her people survive. However she lost her life. That is why this monument has no head…
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| Paintings at the ceiling at Le Louvre |
Le Louvre is big, it is ideal to allocate a day to visit this place - I love Le Louvre!
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| Le Musee d'Orsay is behind me |
Le Musee d’Orsay
In terms of programing, it is good to visit Le Musee d’Orsay a day after Le Louvre.
Again, thanks to Museum Pass, our queue was shorter...
This museum was installed in the former Orsay railway station, built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. So the building itself could be seen as the first "work of art" in the Musee d'Orsay, which displays collections of art from the period 1848 to 1914. Official website: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en
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| The clock at Musee d'Orsay Cafe as a window |
The exhibitions (painting, sculpture, furniture, photographs) are different period from Le Louvre. I told my loved one, I wanted to see Monet and Van Gogh! Yes, this museum is probably best known for its extensive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces (the largest in the world) by such painters such as Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh, etc.
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| The revamped cafetaria; contemporary look |
Ngak penting banget deh tapi tetep penting – it is silly and not important at all but it is important to me - I like the cafeteria in Orsay - hehehe...! It is a cafe that has been rearranged with the idea of introducing contemporary design to the space's original architecture. See link: http://uk.eurostar.com/uk/travel-to-france/travel-to-ile-de-france/travel-to-paris/restaurants/cafe-campana-orsay-museum-idp-11218969
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| Eclair pistache |
The combination of a cup of cappuccino and eclairs pistaches is just perfect. The green eclairs looked weird at first, but it turned out to be yummy.
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| Musee Carnavalet; turn right please |
Musee de Carnavalet
“I want to go to a museum in an ancient building, it has lots of histories and must have many lovely paintings”. That is my answer to my loved one, when he asked me which museum I wanted to visit next.
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| Exhibition building next to Musee Carnavalet |
We were in Paris for a few days already. Some boxes have been ticked such as visits to La Tour Eiffel, L'Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame de Paris, Montmarte, Louvre, Versailles, Musee d’Orsay, and walks to La Place de la Concorde and Les Champs-Elysees of course.
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| One of the exhibition room inside the museum |
Then he took me to this museum. It is a museum of the history of Paris that is managed by the city of Paris. The entrance is free of charge for everyone. In case we wish to enter the exhibition area, we have to pay.
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| Beautiful furniture |
This museum exhibits paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, furniture, decoration, etc., that show how the Parisians used to live. It is a transformation from Lutece in the old day to Paris now. It explains how people used to earn living, the beginning of the industrial era and how the social life was.
In the old days, the rich people used to send their babies in the countryside and have other women to feed/breastfeed their babies. That is why French has a word for “nourrice” – it is from the verb of “nourrir” that means to feed or to breastfeed. This life style did not work well, a lot of babies died before they reached one year old because of the hygienic issues in the countryside.
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| I like this painting. One of the princes who died in young age. |
I like this museum! #Sesuatu banget-:) Yup, it is beautiful in terms of the building and all of the exhibits items... It is subsequently historical... Wise man says: Learning from history. Therefore, it is hopefully we will never do the same mistake.
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| The neighborhood area of Musee Carnavalet |
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