Let's Finish the Walk......

Ok....ready to finish the walk through the Louvre?

Pharaoh.(we are still strolling through the Egyptian section). This is a replica of the Pharaoh from Moses' time.  How cool is that?!

These mummies were in all sizes

A view out of one of the gallery windows in the Egyptian section of the Louvre.  This is looking out towards Tulieres Gardens.  It started out as a sunny day but became overcast as the afternoon turned to twilight.

Let's leave the Egyptian artifacts and head over to the French paintings.......

Musical Instruments

painted in 1770

by a female French artist.

Here they are again:  The 3 Graces as painted by a French artist.  And keep looking....you will soon see these ladies in yet another setting!

A painting of Jesus and the Canaanite woman....by a French artist in 1784....I was particularly drawn to the sky in the painting.....so beautiful....

A painting done by a Frenchman

in 1867...in the neoclassical style.

The title appealed to me:

La Solitude.

Look closely:

notice the woman in the red frock on the hillside..

I think the "Naturalist" in me

enjoyed this painting.

I found my self studying this longer than

most of the ones in the French Paintings section.

Of  course I needed to see a Renoir!
However, I was not impressed with the room that some of the French and Dutch paintings were hanging in.....the walls were painted an odd shade of red....so my camera didn't do well in that lighting...by now the rest of my family was beginning to be bored with paintings....so...off to the Tuileries Gardens we went for a bit of fresh air and to figure out what we wanted to do about an early dinner....we needed to stay near the Louvre as we wanted to see it at night and do some window-shopping at the underground Mall.  I was satisfied to leave the paintings since the next day we were going to see the original Renoirs, Van Goghs, Degas, etc. over at the Musee d'Orsay. (Orsay Museum).

The Tuileries Gardens 

with the Louvre in the background

We were not impressed with the gardens at all.

Lots of litter, and although

gorgeous tulips, forsythia, 

and other early spring flowers were up 

all around the city, 

there were NO flowers at Tuileries.

The hedges were neatly trimmed

but the overall park

was in general disrepair.

Rather disappointing.

Claire enjoyed getting some fresh air....this is about 5 pm.....in the garden paths at Tuileries.

The picture below shows yet another rendition of "The Three Graces"....a sculpture in the Tuileries Gardens.....behind the statue, a group of local high school boys play football (our soccer).

My girls and I fooling around

while resting on a lovely park bench

in the Tuileries Gardens

outside the Louvre

Courtney and I were amazed at how the Parisians keep the city trees so trimmed and uniform.  Note how each tree here along the edge of the courtyard leading from Tuileries to the Louvre is perfectly matched and in sync.  It was like this on the Champs Elysee and in the gardens and parks near the Eiffel Tower....same as in areas on Ile de Citie and the Left Bank...we just loved the city of Paris.  If you ever have a chance to go...DO IT!  It is well worth the travel.......it is now about 6 pm in this picture.
We want some food so we begin to head over to the main street.....it is full of local people getting out of work and full of tourists looking for a snack or shopping along the sidewalk boutiques. We found this little market that was making crepes: 

Courtney and I shared a huge NUTELLA crepe

while Dave and Claire had glace (ice cream) 

from another vendor....

this was a great snack!

(note the jar of Nutella on the stove top)

The lady making our crepes was Indian 

but Parisian....it was neat to hear her Indian accent

in the French language...she spoke English haltingly.

She was lots of fun tho trying to get us to realize 

that the crepes she makes are HUGE!

(they were!!)

She thought it was great that we love Nutella.

The French pronounce Nutella with a long U.  

Over here, Americans say Nut-tella.

Guess what family is now saying it the French way?! :)

Claire and I liked the "house-shaped" hedges in this part of Tuileries.  We are now heading back to the Louvre after having a snack, spending lots of time looking at the boutiques, trying on various scarves, reading books in French, and people-watching.  After awhile, we were hungry again, so found a nice cafe with Italian, French, and Indian food!  Our waiter was Indian.....it was virtually empty as was early....only about 7 pm.  There was one other patron, a local woman just getting out of work it appeared.  She stopped for an espresso which seems to be what the Parisians do after work.  They also don't really get moving in the morning to work until 9-ish.  I like that life-style!  So much more relaxed!  After a lovely dinner, we headed back to the Carrousel (underground mall at the Louvre) where we explored some of my fave stores like Benneton, Esprit, a chocolatier, a children's toy store, and a nature store.  It was all designer shoppe quality stuff.  We decided to not spend more money, as we wanted to shop on Rue Cler the last day in Paris.  We headed back to the Louvre where most of the hordes of people had thinned out...it was very quiet in the Mesopotamia section, which was the section Courtney was very interested in.  By this time, I was tired of looking at naked figures and sphinxes, and just wanted to sit with a coffee and book.  I ended up sitting on a bench watching and listening to my husband explain the Hammurabi Code to my daughters.  This was actually in the Louvre!! (I hadn't known that until that day when Courtney told me she really wanted to see it).  This is from 1760 B.C.!!!  Can you wrap your mind around that??  that is a LONG time ago!! Hammurabi, for those of you who don't know, was King of Babylon, way back then.  He established 282 laws which are written on an 8-foot black basalt stela.  It is one of the first legal documents.....FOUR CENTURIES BEFORE the TEN COMMANDMENTS!! 
 Although I was not into this type of art, I must say it was very impressive to be standing to such an awesome piece of work and history.  It truly was mind-boggling!!

Claire and Courtney

in Tuileries

The Glass Pyramid at dusk

Here we are saying "au revoir"

to the greatest museum in the world.

Our day at the Louvre ended at about 9:30 pm and we walked across the street to catch the Metro back to our hotel.  By the time the girls showered and fell into bed it was 11 pm and we were all exhausted but excited that we had seen some of the oldest artifacts in the world and the most famous paintings and sculptures that man has created......a day of Art in Paris would continue the next day with our mid-day jaunt to the Orsay.....where original works of the great artists hang in splendor!

I hope you enjoyed this stroll through the Louvre with me.

When Dave and Courtney get their pictures uploaded onto one of the computers, I will be showing some things that they took, that I didn't get.  

If you are still reading this....good for you!

Leave me a comment about something you saw that you liked.......

(if you missed the beginning of our tour, either scroll down or if you are here from another site, click on the word "home" and it will take you to my main page. Keep scrolling down to see all the Paris Pics......