The Louvre

We arrived thirty minutes before opening, found the "less frequently" used entrance to the Louvre through the underground Carousel shopping center, and when the gates opened and we made it through security, we raced forward to beat the crowds to see this little lady.

She did not disappoint.  We all agree, she is magical.

Note Grace is mezmerized.

We were tickled by how interested Anthon was in the art.  I'd be strolling him along and he would put his feet down on the floor and say, "Go back to that one," or "I'm not done looking at this one," and then he'd want to discuss what he was seeing.

He got so excited about a painting that he jumped out of his stroller, ran to find George in an adjacent Gallery and brought him back to see the painting he loved.  

The painting Anthon was taken with.

Anthon and I loved the people made of vegetables & fruit. 

Matt told the children a few stories of several art pieces and the children loved hearing the details.

The children had listened to a true story of The Portrait of the Merchant, the painting below.  Apparently, a rich merchant hired Raffel to paint a portrait of him to show all of his friends how important and rich he was to afford such a handsome painting.  They agreed upon a prict of $10,000.  When when Raffel completed the portrait the merchant complained and said he would only pay $1,000 for the portrait.  Raffel was quick.  He told the merchant to call in Michel Angelo, and if Michel Angelo said the painting was only worth $1,000, then the merchant only had to pay $1,000.  Well, the merchant was pleased because he know that Michel Angelo did not like Raffel.  They were fierce competitors.  So the merchant readily agreed.  When Michel Angelo saw the portrait he turned to the merchant and said, "You are right sir, this portrait is not worth $10,000.  It is worth $30,000."  Then Michel Angelo turned and said, "Good day," to Raffel and left to get back to his own art work.

The Portrait of the Merchant

 Throughout the Galleries there would be artists working on reproducitons of various works.  Here are a few.  Grace was particularly interested in their work.  Both girls have now asked me for a canvas when we get back home.

The Venus de Milo

Winged Victory

A little time out from art apprecitation for some dance and wrestling, I mean hugging and loving!

Next came the search for a Story of the World favorite:  Hammurabi's Code.

Grace was giddy and jumping up and down for joy when we found it.

Hammurabi was a good king in ancient Mesopotamia.  Upon this colum are engraved all of the fair and just laws he used to govern his people.  He had these laws posted on similar colums all over his empire so people would know and live the law.  The punishments were fair and just and his people loved him for this.

Grace's favorite animal.

One of Matt's favorites because of the sailing ships.

We lasted three hours so feet and backs were pretty sore.

Oh, one last portrait.  The ugly Daphine, who
Joan of Arc helped to crown as King Charles the VII.

A little ride up the unusual Louvre elevator.

Anthon loves his Papa!

We walked over to the Tuilery Gardens just outside of the Louvre for a lovely picnic lunch and we lingered longer, just like the Parisians.

And again enjoyed the local feathered friends.

Then headed to Rue Rivoli to do a little souvenir shopping....

It was as one would expect:  chaotic and a little tacky.

And Matt could not resist:  Made in CHINA.
Even the classy Parisians know where to get cheap labor.

The Green Beret Girls:  Erik purchased each of the girls a 1 euro
green beret, if they would wear it all day long....

Gargoyles and Masterpieces

We woke up bright and early to head back to Notre Dame to climb to the spires.  Papa & Grammie graciously volunteered to be the advanced party to save us Grimmers and Olsons a place in line.  Once again thanks to Rick Steve’s guide tips we knew we’d have the shortest wait if we were first in line at 9:30am.  In true French style they opened not at 10:00am but 10:20 and no thanks to a few line cutters the Olsons and Grimmers went up….and ironically Papa & Grammie were detained at the gate for at least 30 more minutes.

A return to Notre Dame.

Papa & Grammie saved us from being at the end of this line...

We're so sorry you early birds are the ones left in line!

It was 500 steps to the top (Grace counted) and Emmeline declared it a fabulous calf workout.  The views were spectacular and the Gargoyles more menacing up close.  We learned that Gargoyles are people who have become stuck between earth and heaven.  We’ve been speculating about how a person gets “stuck.”  Hmmmmm.  I may have to use that one in the future. 

It's a long way up! But everyone's little legs made it.

Interesting trivial fact:  All of the bells for
Notre Dame are baptised and named.
We are quite certain this is Big Bertha.

A gargoyle eating a chicken.  We'd like to think
that the mink that killed all 7 of our chickens back in April is
now a gargoyle who is caught between earth and heaven.

It was 90 degrees today, so we again stuck to the shade, underground and a museum.  After Notre Dame we headed for the Roman Crypts on the Plaza of Norte Dame.  They were archeological ruins and Anthon was excited to find the dead people.  The exhibit had chronological models of Paris from the beginnings when France was known as Gaul.

Model of a young Paris

Anthon's favorite part of the exhibit.

We don't know what these were, because we can't read french captions.

We then headed back to the metro to find our way to Musee d'Orsay, which holds the largest collection of Impressionistic Masterpieces. 

Patient travelers....

who entertain themselves in various ways.

George likes to chase pigeons and find their feathers....
He threw these away after he learned from Matt that they
may have lice and other diseases.  He's a logical boy.

Papa's studying the map....

Matt and Erik are studying the map....

Grace and Jake chat while waiting....

And we are off again!

We grabbed lunch from a vendor on the way.  Honestly, quiche from a vendor, I won’t ever get tired of this!  We then found the “Express Museum Pass” line and pulled out the umbrellas to wait in the blazing sun.  We had been in line for about 8 minutes when a museum employee came up to Matt and I with the strollers with sleeping boys and said, “Follow me.”  He then proceeded to take us to the front of the line (which saved us at least a 45 minute wait).  He stopped us and asked, “How many people are in your family?” when our entire group of Grimmers, Olsons and Thorns followed us.  I just kept saying, “Two families, two families.”

Scharman is blessing the strollers today and their success in getting us into
de Orsay and saving us from approximately 45 more minutes in the blazing sun!

Matt bet me a new painting that the museum would not have air conditioning and I won.  I can’t wait to pick out my new art piece.  In actuality we did bet, but did not nail down the terms, so I just have the pleasure of knowing that I won.  (I love that blogs can re-write a little history.)  We saw works from Monet, Manet, VanGough, Pessaro, Dega, Renior, LauTrec, Seurat, Whistler, Cezanne, and Rodin.  No photos were allowed, but we were inspired and honored to see these works.  The children were thrilled to see pieces they had studied in school.  When we walked up to VanGough's self portrait, Emmeline looked at it, looked at us, then looked back at the painting and said, "Is this the real painting?" in a moment of stunned realization that we were not looking at a poster print.  It made the art come to life.

Please note Grace smelling the rearend of the rhino....
mostly because she wants you to notice!

Emmeline's photo of her favorite animal.