Paris - Dinner Cruise, the Louvre, St. Germain and Ponies

 The river boat dinner cruise on the Seine!

Passing some incredible structures on the River Seine.

Art installations on the wall (just above that wall is the grounds of the Louvre)

Ah, bonjour Tour Eiffel

 This was the beginning of an art installation on our way back from the dinner cruise. Wayne, Uncle Marko, myself and Norah made the walk home while the others took a taxi back. It was well worth it (even in the heels) because we found this exhibit along the river Seine. Each section was done by different artists around the world and they were all cultural/anthropological/sociological pieces. Also if Norah wasn't blurry in this, I'd blow it up and frame it.

 Families in China with all of their belongings, outside of their houses. (similar to the famous book dedicated to these photos)

Albinos. This one was amazing, mesmerizing and haunting, all at the same time.

Sarah and Mimi - I thought you might like this leather carrying case for a leg of meat. This is prosciutto - wrapped in paper, bound with straps, in a leather carrying suitcase... if that's not over the top, I don't know what is...  

 

Oh, wait, yes I do... just down the block from this fine meat-shop was another shop who sold Truffles (the black truffle, mushroom kind) for:

SIX HUNDRED EURO PER KILOGRAM. These are mushrooms..... mushrooms!

 This made me think of our dear high school teacher, Carvil "Dutch" Day. Apparently the name is big in Paris.

Waiting to go into the Louvre with my cutie pie.

Below the glass pyramid, inside the Louvre. Did you know there's a full underground shopping MALL underneath the Louvre? I didn't like that, at all.

 Entering the Louvre with Aunt Mary, Uncle Dan and Suzy.

Wayne, pointing at the statue shown above. I can just hear him here, "That....that...is no joke." And Norah in her buggy in the Louvre, "I wonder when we can go back outside..."

Oh, that's my head and the Venus de Milo.

Often, the most striking things in the Louvre are the ceilings.

Pooped after the Mona Lisa.

Oh, and this one (about 20 feet in height and 12 feet across) was so heart-wrenching. I can't possibly convey the scale here but the sheer size of it, added to the power of it. The woman, holding her baby, being pulled down into the abyss while clutching the man above who is desperately trying to save her (while being pulled away, himself, by some evil force). Yowza.

This one was haunting and so beautiful. The photo is blurry but the painting was absolutely immaculate - you felt you were looking at her submerged, just below the water, and that she was being GENUINELY illuminated by the moonlight. It made me feel viscerally, and instantaneously, sad (and while that's not "positive", it's just incredible that paint on canvas could evoke this, immediately).

 Wayne telling Norah about Aphrodite.

Da Vinci and Michelangelo (close-up #1 of the above ceiling)

 And close-up #2 (of the above)

 You come out of the previous room (with the most incredibly ornate ceiling you have EVER seen, nearly rivaling the Sistine Chapel) and you see THIS. A corridor that stops you dead in your tracks.

Down about half way is a doorway leading to the right, and this is where the Mona Lisa lives. In another equally cavernous room.

I loved all of these paintings and then there was this one above. A bishop of some sort, with a cleaver in his head. Hm...that's odd. The rest of the painting doesn't seem to suggest this zombie-movie aspect at all, and in fact, you don't see it unless you stop in front of it. The other 'guy' seems to be saying, "please....Bartholomew, I can't help you any more... this is too much. Please, take your hand off me".

 There were several of these. The other one shows another church figure with a sword through the top of his head and blood trickling down his forehead (but again the rest of the painting is quite nonchalant about it).

And then bam! You turn the corner, see this overly-full room and there on the middle wall (which is erected in the middle of the room) - near the bottom is the surprisingly small, Mona Lisa.

Here she is, with the reflections of every person holding their smart-phone up, to capture her. 

Ok, this painting - You may have heard of it...."The Last Supper" - well, it is the most COLLOSSAL canvas you have ever laid eyes on. I am not exaggerating here. It is beautiful beyond description and so intricate you could easily spend 4 hours sitting in front of it. I'm not exactly sure why they put it directly facing the teeny, tiny, Mona Lisa. This painting should have its own room. Also, I am completely unsure why I feel this compulsion to have my photo taken in front of things like this. I know its absurd and yet I cannot help it. Really....its so weird.

 

Again....no photo can convey the beauty and intricacy of these paintings but this one was almost more impressive than the colossal 'Last Supper'.

 And here's Norah passed out, in between The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Atta girl.

I just found the circular painting a little odd. Here's this poor woman, essentially being groped and what? She had to sit in this position for 12 hours while she was painted? (not to mention, the painting is nearly 6 feet tall)

Uncle Dan, Aunt Mary and Suzy spent more time in the Louvre (and while we would have done anything to stay with them for 3 more hours) we had to take our little one to a park. She was so patient. This child...what an angel. She let us cart her around the entire city, often not feeding her at ANY normal hour, took her through the Louvre and by the end, we owed her a couple hours of running and playground-time.

First we found a café for lunch. Little did we know, this street (Rue De Dragon) is where Victor Hugo lived! (writer of Les Miserables)

Same street. We loved this tiny café because it was filled with young French students, and the waiter spoke no English.

 Jardin Du Luxembourg! (Norah and Wayne seeking shade by the palm tree, there)

 Pony rides for 2 Euro?! What??

 Oh and the clothing shops in Paris! As I mentioned before, I'm not big into clothes but even Paris made me covet the outfits in store windows.

Seriously coveted these boots (they tied with a ribbon)

 Beautiful dress with a Basilica in the window's reflection.

The back of Saint Sulpice

Saint Sulpice