Thursday night the kids and I were awake much of the night again. Not promising. Robby was especially tired as we headed out Friday morning to the Louvre. Having heard horror stories of the Mona Lisa room being so crowded one could barely glimpse the picture, we decided to beat the crowds. We arrived at the underground (shopping mall) entrance to the Louvre around 8:35, just as the line was forming. Once the gate opened we belined for the Mona Lisa. Fortunately the rush of the waiting crowd behind us was not as huge as, say Disneyland when it opened, and we were actually the very first people to see both the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Mona Lisa that day. They'd don't let you take pictures anywhere in the Denon hall which houses the Italian Renaissance art.

the Winged Victory of Samothrace
The approach from the stairs below is stunning - very similar to turning the corner in the Academia and seeing David at the end of the hall
It is much less stunning in a crowd of hundreds of people

the Winged Victory of Samothrace

the Winged Victory of Samothrace

the Winged Victory of Samothrace

It fealt criminal ignoring the hundreds of other works of art on the way in. We backtracked, picking out the other Leonardos, Rapheals, Titians, and so on. We then headed down to Michelangelo’s Slaves, who are almost as impressive as David. 

Michelangelo's Dying Slave

Michelangelo's Dying Slave

Michelangelo's Rebellios Slave

Michelangelo's Rebellios Slave

Canova's Psyche and Cupid

Venus de Milo

Great Sphinx of Tanis

Sarcophagus Box of Ramses III

We  meandered through the museum for a while, taking it all in.  Kathy's favorite was the Venus de Milo.  Robby enjoyed the Mona Lisa and Egyptian antiquities.  Dusty enjoyed the Renaissance art and Greek and Roman status most, but loved nearly everything.  We eventually made a strategic error to try find the Tomb of Phillipe Pot and the Code of Hammuradi on the way. We were at the opposite end of the Richelieu wing, so it shouldn’t have been too long a trek. The direct route was blocked, so we headed back through Egypt and Greece again, seeing the crowded Appollo Gallery with Louis XV’s crown on the way. Once we reached the huge atrium with French sculpture we started making a series of wrong turns – the map doesn’t help much at times. Finally we saw the Tomb, then headed upstairs to see Rubens and Vermeer, then called it quits. We were beat. It had only been 3 hours, but we had seen nearly all the major sites. Fortunately getting out of the Louvre was quite easy, and we felt better after having lunch at the food court at the Louvre mall. We took the Metro up to the Arc de Triomphe and climbed it. Unfortunately it was cloudy, windy, and it started to sprinkle, putting a bit of damper on the view. 

Click here for a panoramic picture from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

La Defense from the Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

Champes Elysees

By the time we got back down to the bottom of the Arc it had stopped raining, so we walked down Champes Elysees until we reach Franklin Roosevelt station, then headed back to the apartment. It had been quite a long 6 hours. We all collapsed and napped for a while, then Dusty woke up and decided to head back out while Kathy decided to stay behind and do laundry. The apartment had a ‘free’ laundry room. Dusty headed out to make sure he could find the rental car office at Port Maison (he could), make sure they had our reservations (they did), and then went to find the Orangerie. 

Place de la Concorde

Place de la Concorde

Renoir's Sailboats at Argenteuil

Place de la Concorde would have been quite pretty, but unfortunately they were building a massive bus shelter right next to the obelisk – not sure what they were thinking. L’Orangerie was intimate. The water lilies were ok but didn't do much for me. The Renoirs were fantastic, escpecially Sailboats at Argenteuil. The museum also had a sampling of Matisse, Picasso, and several other artists who I now know I don’t need to go out of my way to see. I didn't see any signs telling me not to take pictures, and everyone else was, so finally I got brave and took one picture - without flash, of course.  I then meandered back to the Louvre and spent another hour and a half of so leisurely re-viewing everything cool I saw earlier, plus seeing a few that I’d missed, including Botticelli’s fantatistic frescos.

Jardin des Tuileries

Place du Carrousel

Louvre - the Pyramid