Mo’ pictures from around Paris
Just a few more pictures from Paris starting with the Arc de Triumph (built 1806-1836). Located at the western end of the Champs-Elysees, the Arc stands 164′ tall, 148′ wide, 72′ deep and has more stairs to the top than we could count! Once on top of the Arc, there is a beautiful view of Paris. The Arc has 4 main sculptures, 6 reliefs, names of French military leaders and a list of the great victories of France. OK, so it’s a short list!
Stairway
21 sculpted roses on ceiling
The Eiffel Tower as seen from the Arch
Le Triomphe de 1810
Le Départ de 1792
La Résistance de 1814
La Paix de 1815
Next how about the Louvre and the Mona Lisa. This has to have been the biggest point of frustration on our visit. We didn’t buy tickets ahead of our tour so we stood in line for about 1hr waiting to get thru security. Then once inside, we tried to navigate using the map provided with our tickets only to find that was almost impossible. The map has color codes for levels and an occasional picture of what’s on that level. The corresponding color codes and plaques on the museum walls are fairly small and not in the most convenient places. Very hard to follow and just a difficult to follow with directions provided by museum staff. Still, we managed to find what we wanted to see, the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Nike.
Nike
Venus de Milo
Viewing the Mona Lisa is somewhat challenging. The room housing Leonardo da Vinci’s best known work is not well marked. Once we found it, we also found a massive crowd. I understand the popularity of this painting, and I understand wanting a picture. What I don’t understand is why people want 20 or 30 pictures, selfie of yourself in front of the painting, selfie of you and ten other people in front of the painting, selfie of you and the crowd behind you, selfie of you and the ceiling, selfie of you and the rope keeping you back from the painting, selfie of you……. It seemed endless! Once you got to the front where you could actually take a picture, it was almost anticlimactic. So, we viewed the painting, took our 1 picture and left! No selfie!
Other great works from the Louvre:
Of course, more pictures of the Eiffel Tower. Sorry if a few of these are repeats.
