We started the day at the Louvre museum this morning.
The museum consists of 5 levels on 3 interconnecting wings named for important people.
both statues were intended to grace the tomb of Pope Julius II.
Of course the boys wanted to see Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (La Joconde). The painting was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and not recovered for two years.
Eric’s pick was two small paintings by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer.
The Napoleon III apartments were full of more incredible glitzy decoration, furniture and crystal chandeliers
The Marly Court and Puget Court were formerly open to the sky and only covered by a glass roof in the 1990’s. The works displayed here once adorned the squares of Paris and the royal gardens. Some of the statues and vases were created for the Palace of Versailles.
Ryan wanted to stay at the Louvre longer than the rest of us, so we split off around lunch.
We checked out the gorgeous glass dome in the Galeries Lafayette store.
And another amazing glass dome at the Printemps store
In the later afternoon we visited l’Arc de Triomph. The arch was started under Napoleon in 1806 to celebrate victories in battle (although there were several constructions snags and it was not finished until 1836).
Huge stone reliefs adorn the base.
660 names of military commanders and lists of major battles are engraved within the arch.
284 steps up the spiral staircase brought us to the observation deck and this amazing view of Paris, including the 12 major avenues radiating out from the center of the circle.
Under the Arch is the site of France’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the eternal flame. On November 11, 1923, the Minister of War, Andre Maginot lit the flame of remembrance for the first time. It has burned continuously since to honor soldiers who lost their lives in wars.
Every evening, veterans and their families lay flowers on the tomb and the eternal flame is ceremonially re-lit.
Dinner was at a gluten free Italian restaurant near the Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower sparkles for 5 minutes every hour after sunset.
Today is Ukrainian Independence Day, and the tower was lighted in gold and blue.
Then a quick ride home on the metro as we were all exhausted.
Leave a Reply