Paris Day 5
I think the night of day 4 we finally went out to eat. I can't find any mention of it in my notes, but we did go out to eat. At a mediocre restaurant that Adam's parents had eaten at on their previous trip and really enjoyed. It was an Italian place run by a Portuguese family. They were very nice, no one else was in the place and the food was fresh - so passable. But don't you worry - the food situation looks up on day 6!
Anyway, on this day, day 5, Adam had finally succumbed to the cold and wanted a day to rest. He chose to stay home with Bennett while the in-laws went to Montmartre and I went to the Louvre. I was beat, but felt rather pressured to go. There was just this expectation that of course I would see the Louvre. I was the only one who hadn't been to Paris before and blah blah every one needs to see it. In the end, I'm glad I went: alone time, my pace, art, and truly it is spectacular.
When I got there I walked in from the street to the courtyard and holy shit! The building is huge. HUGE. The pyramid, while looking pretty impressive in photos, is not nearly that cool in person. Usually it's the other way around, but I didn't care for the glass pyramid. Thankfully the line to get in wasn't that long and moved quickly. The day was the sunniest day we'd had and very very cold. I got myself something for a snack and sat down to plot my course. I plotted it based on a cafe at the end (which turned out to be closed for renovations and I wanted to cry) and bathrooms.
Things I loved here:
*free coat check
*the Cour Khorsabad - Assyrians for the win! Again! Not as impressive as the British Museum, but still peaceful and powerful. I can't explain it but the Assyrians have magic in their art that holds up all these thousands of years later. As a bonus, no one else cares so there were about 5 people looking around this section.
*The courtyards in general in the statue section were open, full of natural light, and statues are just cool. I saw a wonderful statue of a vestal virgin that gripped me.
*Winged Victory of Samothrace. This piece is breathtaking. I have a friend who has a 4 foot tall reproduction on a pillar in her house (she's an artist) so I was familiar with it and was looking for it. I thought it would a little larger, but I had no idea it was so massive! It was gorgeous. The sun was coming in through the windows lighting up one side of it..... oh it was gorgeous.
Things that sucked:
*I took photos on my iphone but I found out later that none of them stuck. I was crushed.
*The Mona Lisa.... so tiny, surrounded by a crowd 5 deep all of them wanting to get a photo with their loved one smiling near it.
*Tourists in general. I could have stabbed about 4 in particular: walking around with their camcorders out, recording everything like a giant hoover, vacuuming up art without looking at it! Just staring through the viewfinder, not watching where they were going. GAH.
I was supposed to meet my inlaws at the Louvre bookstore, but I was beat. I spent maybe 4 hours at the Louvre. Definitely a place to go back another time. The sun was shining so I thought I'd walk around the Tuileries, the large garden just outside the Louvre. I walked a little way and then thought 'who am I kidding?' I was hurting and tired and I just went back to the condo/hotel. Where Adam and I proceeded to have a big fight. Good times.