Another Evening at the Louvre.

As mentioned in previous posts, my amazing friend/mentor Carol is a published author, PHd professor and fluent in 5 languages! Tonight she invited me to another of her presentation sessions at the Louvre with a few of her students from Wells College Study Abroad Program.

It's late right now, and I need some Zzz'z. So I'll just post a few photos of the evening.
It's been a normal day, with the Wednesday French-English Conversation Group, Lunch with a friend and an evening at the Louvre...what more can one ask?

Sorry for any typos tonight, I didn't eat much and the sips of wine are kickin' in.....Zzzzzz.

Carol and a few students.

"Take Notes on this Artist, I want you to study later." Carol tells her students.

I take a quick photo of the Artist's Label to Google Later....No notes necessary!

"Can you see how the statue poses are difficult?" Carol explains as she has her students pose as a Michelangelo sculpture.

"Try Harder." Carol insists as students help with the difficult pose.

Carol and her students.

Once again, I can only say how blessed I feel to be able to share such wonderful experiences in Paris with others.

The Louvre Visit - Part 3 of 3 Things I Did Not Know.

This feels more like finishing homework than a blog entry, but I must post the final photos from the First Sunday Louvre visit. One could start a blog just on the Louvre items and go on for a few years! There's just so much to see and learn, it's incredible!


The Denon Wing of the Louvre. (There are 3 wings: The Richelieu, Sully and Denon)

This final tour is of a few special pieces in the Louvre. The beauty, power and strength of women is well represented.

Venus de Milo

I suppose everyone has seen photos or sculptures of Venus de Milo, one of the most famous Ancient Greek Statues, discovered in 1820 on the Greek island of Melos. Her age dates back to Before Christ, 2nd century (100BC).

Maybe I know of Venus because I lived in Greece from the 6th Grade (where I met my Best Friend Marilena...probably sipping on wine in NYC reading this blog right now) until Freshman year in High School.

Venus is the Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty.

Anne of Austria Apartments.

The apartment of Anne of Austria (I had no idea people really did live in the space of the Louvre). Anne was the mother of Louis XIV. She had her summer apartment built here in 1655 with a bedroom overlooking the Seine.

Apartment of Anne of Austria.
The apartment rooms were converted in 1799 into the gallery we see today.

Winged Goddess of Victory.

Next it was on to, the Winged Goddess of Victory. Once again, am I the only one that did not know Nike means "Victory" in Greek? I thought it meant "Just Do It!". (Just kidding.)

Winged Goddess of Victory - Nike of Samothrace.

This Goddess is also called Nike of Samothrace. She dates back to 190BC and was discovered in 1863 on the island of Samothrace in the beautiful Aegean Sea.

The Virgin of the Rocks - 1503 Da Vinci

I also strolled past the works of Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian Renaissance artist we all know, born in 1452. The Louvre has the largest collection of Leonardo de Vinci's works (Okay, it's only about 5 paintings, but still the Louvre brags it is the largest collection) to include the Mona Lisa.

Mona Lisa.

"Are you going to see La Gioconda?" my French friend asked when I said I was going to the Louvre. "The What?" I asked. "La Gioconda. You know La Joconde." he elaborated. I looked more puzzled. "The woman with the smile." he clarified. "Oh, you mean the Mona Lisa?" I asked. "Yeah." he said.

And yet again, am I the only one that did not know the French don't always call the Mona Lisa the Mona Lisa?, I never noticed she has no eyebrows, And my final confession of ignorance...I really thought the woman's name was Mona Lisa, like Ana-Maria, Marie-Claude (two of my friends) , or Mary Jane. But Non! Mona Lisa is just short for Madonna ("My Lady") Lisa. Her name Lisa (meaning the wife of) the wealthy man she was married to, last name Gioconda. (Which is where the original name La Gioconda came from. Oh?!)

The other well known name (by the French) is La Joconde, which means "Light Hearted Woman".

Honestly, am I really the only one who missed these facts in High School?

The Louvre Part 2 of 3 - Sunday at the Louvre..Continued.

The Napoleon III apartments were the second area I wanted to visit during my "Free 1st Sunday" visit to the Louvre (this past weekend). This area was refurbished during the Second Empire (the time when Napoleon III was Emperor from 1852 to 1870) for the Ministry of State.

The recorded tour guide said that Napoleon never actually lived in these rooms. They are called the Napoleon apartments only because of the time they were built.

These rooms were part of the new wing added on the Louvre between 1852 and 1857 to link the Louvre Palace and the Tuileries Palace.

These are the original Louis XIV style opulent decorations and furniture in the reception rooms.

After the Paris Commune in 1871, these rooms were used by the French Finance Ministry.

The more time I spent in the museum, the more I wanted to learn...Here are a few more of the photos taken during the day.


Napoleon III. ( uh, I thought there was only one!) but quickly learned that Napoleon I was actually his Uncle. Napoleon II died young while in prison and Napolean III (this one) is the one we know is responsible for hiring Baron Haussmann to redesign the streets of Paris, with the beautiful architectural designed buildings that line the street of Paris today. Haussmann's plans also include the design of the Bous de Boulogne (my jogging destination) along with several other beautiful parks inside the city.

Napoleon apartments hallway.


Napoleon Apartments Office.

Grand Reception Room.

Dining Room.

Ceiling of Grand Reception Room.

Grand Staircase leading to the Napoleon Apartments.

The more time spent in the Louvre, the more there is to learn. This will not be my last "Free Sunday" visit.

The Louvre Part 1 of 3 - Solo Sunday at the Louvre.

First Sunday's of each month, entry into Paris Museums are FREE! So finally, I've decided to take advantage of this opportunity although most people have told me the lines to the museums are extraordinarily loooong, this was not the case at all.

I arrived outside the Louvre Pyramid entry at 9:15AM (The museum opens at 9:00), the line was short and I was inside in less then 10 minutes. Since there's so much to see, I narrowed my interest to 3 areas for this visit. I wanted to see the Medieval Louvre, History of the Louvre Palace and The Napoleon Apartments (anything that sounds like real estate peaks my interest).

This blog entry would be 2o pages if I wrote about everything I learned and saw, so instead, I will break up the entries over the next few days and just show a few photos of each section.

If you want to know more, you absolutely must take a tour. I also highly recommend spending the 6 euros for the guided tour headsets (especially if you visit on a free first Sunday) . It's like having your private tour guide, historian and art curator at your side to repeat anything you didn't understand at the tap of an electronic key pad. I love that little gadget!

Approaching the entry, I feared long lines. But there were none.

Free Entry! This is where I entered the very short line.

First on my agenda. History.

Model of the original Louvre Palace/Fortress.

The original Louvre Palace was built at the beginning of the 13th century (year 1200) by King Philip II Augustus to defend Paris against the Normans and the English. The small rectangle wall which supported the palace drawbridge and the foundation columns behind, still exist just around the corner from this exhibit. (see photo below)

Columns and the original drawbridge wall. Fascinating!

More of the original Louvre Palace.
Scale of the Medieval Louvre. Part of the center round tower also still stands in the basement of the Louvre. (see photo below)

The Medieval Walls were discovered in the 1980's during the construction of the Pyramid renovation.

The center tower walls.

More Medieval Louvre.

I enjoyed hours listening to the fascinating history, staring at the walls, and replaying the guide soundtrack over and over until I understood the key points. This Sunday was perfectly spent alone (among a light crowd of tourist) as I'm sure my friends would not have had the patience to wait for me to listen to a soundtrack three times over.

After browsing the History Section, I enjoyed a solo lunch at one of the Louvre cafes, while continuing to listen and watch the recorded tours on the tour guide gadget.

After lunch I toured the Napoleon Apartments and More of Louver History, which I will post on the blog later this week.