Day 14 - May 29

Rest day

I took yet another day off.  My ankle wasn't getting any better, so I figured I'd better.  I can probably make up the miles later.  If not, oh well. 

This morning, we visited the Louvre.  I was really looking forward to it, even though I'd actually been there before.  However, the first time I was there, I was 16 and on a school trip with friends, so I wasn't really interested.  This time was completely different.  It's amazing how six years of aging and education can change a person.  The Louvre is gigantic, so to visit, you have to pick and choose what you want to see.  We opted mostly for the Greek and Roman sculptures and the 15th to 18th century paintings.  I really like sculptures.  Michelangelo considered it the highest form of art, and I can see his point.  With sculpture, you don't create something by adding, you do it by taking away - i.e. you chip away at a block of marble until you "set free" the human figure inside.  I also like Renaissance art, so I enjoyed the paintings.  I opted to purchase the audioguide, which was worth it because there's so much in the paintings that my untrained eye doesn't see and so many stories behind the paintings that are fascinating to hear.

After the Louvre, Rick, Curtis, and I walked to Notre Dame Cathedral (Natalie wasn't feeling so well), and we stopped in St. Germain's Church on the way.  When we stepped in, we were greeted by the sweet-smelling scent of incense and the echoing voices of a choir practicing some early 17th century (guessing there) sacred music.  It's not often that you set foot into a building and are greeted by pleasing sights, sounds, and scents.  We got the whole package!  Shortly thereafter, we satisfied another of our senses, taste, with some crepes and then waited in the 300 meter long line to get into Notre Dame (It was fast-moving though).  Even though the cathedral is packed with gawking tourists, it still gives you a sense of awe.  They had a big display that chronicled how the cathedral was built, which was pretty interesting.  Like most cathedrals, construction was in stages over hundreds of years, and the plans changed as building technologies and architectural styles changed.  We ended our day with a delicious dinner at a "good value" restaurant (kind of expensive but the food was certainly worth the price, and cheaper than what you find in similar places around Paris).  I tried some rabbit and duck and ended up ordering the steak, which I never do in restaurants because I get all the steak I want at home (My dad raises cattle), but it was marvelous and cooked to medium-rare perfection.  That night, we were going to go out, but we had so much to arrange in terms of transportation and lodging and such that we ran out of time.  Curtis and I needed to get to the airport for our 6am flight to Dubrovnik, and we ended up deciding that ordering a taxi was our best option.  Although it was more expensive, the trains stopped running around 1am and night buses were extremely difficult to figure out and the station was a long walk from the hostel.  So, we got our 3 hours of sleep in our nice comfy beds before hopping in a taxi to the Paris Orly Airport. 

Louvre Courtyard

Inside one of the glass pyramids

Michelangelo's "Rebellious Slave" for the tomb of Pope Julius II

Venus de Milo

Diana of Versailles (Artemis with a Doe)

One of the first paintings ever to use perspective

Da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks

Veronese's Wedding Feast at Cana, the largest painting in the Louvre

Raphael's Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist

The Four Seasons by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Caravaggio's Death of the Virgin - this painting caused a scandal because it didn't show the Virgin's body being assumed into heaven.  She looks very human.

Louvre Courtyard

Natalie and Rick

St. Germain

Art in St. Germain's Church

St. Germain

Notre Dame Cathedral

Rose Window in Notre Dame

 

Delicious steak!