Third time was the charm

 
We left Venice early Sunday morning and spent almost twelve hours traveling to Paris. It was a long day, but I enjoyed having time to journal and read (I am almost halfway done with Robinson Crusoe; I have read it before but I had forgotten how much fun it is to reread). 

We arrived at our hostel in Paris without any of the travel mishaps that have occasionally befallen us in the past. Our receptionist recommended us to a nearby creperie stand and so we tried it. I ordered two crepes: a nutella and banana and then a cheese, while Ashley chose a combination egg and cheese crepe. They were huge and very filling. If my memory serves me correctly, this was only the second time i had ever eaten a crepe, and they were excellent. I agree with her opinion that France wins when it comes to the desert department.

Unlike our hostels in Venice or Rome, this one served breakfast. As you probably know, I love breakfast and therefore missed no time in taking advantage of the fresh baguettes and hot chocolate.

After breakfast, we took the metro to the Louvre Museum. I could barely believe it - after two unsuccessful attempts at visiting, I was finally here at the world's most famous museum! I knew from the beginning that we were would be forced to pace ourselves and so we decided upon the sections we wanted to prioritize. 

We started on the -1 floor (the Europeans have a funny way of numbering floors, by the way) where we walked on the bottom of a fully preserved Medieval moat. It had been disassembled and reconstructed to fit in the Louvre, and I think I can say I am one of a small group of people to walk through an authentic moat. Next, we walked up to the ground floor (floor 0) and walked through room after room of ancient Greek and Roman artifacts. There were scores of sculptures and I was doubly impressed by the fact that one museum had so many rare sculptures, and also by the sculptures themselves. There were busts, full-figure replicas of emperors, depictions of scenes from mythology, and more.

I hardly had time to dwell on these, however, before we transitioned to the ancient Egyptian and Etruscan rooms. These were equally interesting and, as someone who likes history, were just the sort of thing I enjoy. I liked all of it, from the 5000 year-old collections of jewelry to the pharaohs' gold plated burial costumes. My favorites in that section were the sphinxes and the Colossal statue of Ramses II (though he wasn't as colossal as the name suggests).

After we finished walking through the Egyptian area we paused to eat lunch. Our tickets allowed for readmittance, and so we returned after stopping at a nearby cafe and resumed our tour. As it turns out, we saved the best for last. We spent approximately two hours looking at the Louvre's collection of Italian, English, Spanish, and French paintings. It seemed as if every single one of them was a masterpiece, and it was awfully difficult to pick favorites. Off the top of my head, I particularly liked the paintings of Venice by Francesco Gardi, the Consecration of Emperor Napoleon I by Jean David, and a painting of two tigers by an artist that I can't remember.

By then, it was near closing time and so we climbed the stairs to the top floor to see the apartments of Napolean. This was sort of a misnomer, though; the apartments more closely resembled a palace. Apparently, The Louvre at one time served as one of Napolean's residences. I have been to the Palacio Real in Madrid and also the Potsdam Palaces and Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, and while all of them were expansive and ornate, Napolean's apartments may have had the most richly decorated rooms out of them all. Only a dozen or so rooms were open, but these were the most lavishly decorated spaces I have ever seen. The Grand Salon was the centerpiece of the apartments; this was a massive lounge and gathering room and five large, elaborate chandeliers. Imagine the biggest, grandest chandelier you know of. These were larger and more grand. The whole room was covered from ceiling to floor in guilded gold and red velvet tapestries, and it was incredible to realize that the Louvre contained such a truly incomprehensible number of treasures that some of the best remain undiscovered by many visitors.

Oh, and we also stopped to look at the Mona Lisa. I suppose it is neat to be able to brag about having seen it, but it honestly is one of the least memorable paintings I have seen. I still cannot figure out why this, of all paintings, holds the title of the world's most famous picture. If you ask me there were hundreds of more interesting paintings in the museum. Then again, I am just a simple museum-goer.

After the Louvre closed we walked to the Seine and sat by the river for a short time before heading East to the Champs Elysees. We walked almost all the way to the Arc De Triomph and decided to call it a day. What a day it was. On the way back to our hostel, we went by a pastry shop and the same crepe stand close by our hostel. My feet were pretty tired after so much walking and it was great to sit on a sidewalk bench, eat our snacks and drink Coca Cola. Sure it sounds simple, and it was, but the old adage is true: the simplest things in life are often the best.