Trip out to Paris!!! The LOUVRE!!!

On Friday, I took a day trip out to Paris... To visit the Louvre, walked from Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe via the Tuileries Gardens - or Jardin des Tuileries and down Champ Elysee - Paris most famous shoping streets with all the high ended brand names calling out to shoppers. Lost myself on the streets of Paris for a wonderful afternoon. The bad thing is, my camera ran out of batt after the Louvre... so you'll have to rely on my descriptive prowess to imagine how it was like. :)

Anyway, the day began like this...

Heh.. in France, they have these ticket collection machines in all train stations where you can collect your tickets that was ordered online.

Tickets to and fro Paris...

Passing a station along the way... Don't I seem so much closer to the track?

Cause I sat on the lower deck on my journey there...

Most of the trains are double-decker. Probably to accomodate the crown during peak hours.. cause standing is not allowed on trains. But so far, haven't encountered a super full train. Most of the time though, there is enough space for each group of traveller to have like a 'section' to themselves - a 'section' being a group of 4 or 6 seats

Finally, got to my 'destination' The Louvre... or Musee Du Louvre.

The Louvre was once a formal palace I think... But when I first saw it, I didn't think it looked particularly special or anyting. Cause it just blends into the other buildings around it. But I was in for a pleasant surprise...

The walkway to get to the courtyard where the entrance to the Louvre was...

When I got to the end of the walkway, the sight just took my breathe away... You have to be there to experience it. Think walking out to see two pyramids greeting you, with loads of people milling around, taking photos... sitting around and soaking in the sun...

Me in front of the Pyramids installation by I. M. Pei.

Did I forget to mention the water installations and how 3 sides of the museam surrounds the courtyard...

The entrance to the Louvre is in the large pyramid

So this is a shot of outside from within the pyramid...

And look at the number of people who visited the Louvre that Friday...

There are 3 wings full of artwork for visitors...

First stop: The Denon wing where Mona Lisa and most of the other paintings were displayed, togeether with many many many scultures and busts...

More cute guys anyone? The thing is... they have probably been dead for centuries... Actually, I dun really have much idea who they are cause everything was in French.

*tip: rent the Audioguide... I found it helpful as it explained the rationale behind paintings - who commisioned it, for what reason, the situation at the time where the painting was done and stuff. Very informative!*

But they didn't have much on the sculptures... so here's my own.

Here's an armless bandit... probably lost it in a war, as in the arm of the statue (not the person) could have been destroyed in a war, or chopped off by people who did not like it or broken in some transportation process?

He should have been some great conqueror. Looks somewhat like a Roman gladiator...

And I really have no idea who this is...

A marble throne... Looks mighty uncomfortable for a King to sit on it the whole day... and looks pretty small too!

Caught sight of this painting as I was exiting the Denon wing... I dunno why, but I like it... :)

Saw a lot of other paintings there, but couldn't take photos of them. There was this huge painting (The largsest in the Louvre) that depicted a banquet scene - Les Noces de Cana by Véronèse. The Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter series by Archimboldo.

Here are two of the four paintings...

Spring by Archimboldo. See how it's a young man, and he's made up of flowers the bloom in spring.

And here's Winter... made of roots, looking old and hardened.

I like this series not only because I like how the seasons are symbolised, but it also traces one's path in life, showing an aging process. How a young man will become old as time passes. But hopefully, we all won't be as bitter and as grumpy when we get to Winter.

Another shot of the courtyard... Pretty no?

And I just thought this was very cute.. like this small Cupid/Angel trying to put on a helmet...

Can never get enough of this... Postcard-perfect?

And in another wing, there was this 'garden' full of statues... Some of them used to be placed along Champ Elysee, but are now in the Louvre to protece them from the weather.

A warrior or some Greek God blowing a horn...

All the statues are holding clocks telling the same time.

Hahaha.. isn't this cute? The mini thinker.

The weather was very good! See! I could just walk around in my top... A bit sunny though.. thus the sunglasses...

See me in the mirror? hahaha.. it's an upside down mirror...

Yep... so after spending 4 and a half hours in the Louvre, my camera battery died on me.

Took a wark through Tuileries Garden. It is wonderful how you can see the Arc de Triomphe rising in the distance. It was like a 90 mins walk away? or maybe even more? I think the garden is not really that great. Or maybe the flowers weren't really blooming. But they had a couple of ponds and stuff. Nice to go there and relax on a lazy afternoon.

And then i walked pass Champ Elysee and saw the huge LV! It's 3 to 4 storeys high... and I heard they have a quota for the number of items a person can purchase. Cause I was approached by a few tourists to help them buy sth from LV. Didn't agree in the end.

The good thing is that the sun sets super late in Paris. It was still rather bright even at 8 pm...

Took some detours into some small streets. Saw loads of cafes (There's one at almost every street corner). After a long afternoon/evening stroll, I made my way back to St Lazare train station and went back to Rouen...