I'm a day behind because after 7 1/2 hours in the Louvre and an aborted trip to the Eiffel Tower (more on that in a minute) on Friday.....we came back and passed out. Today was an epic adventure.....and that was just the train ride to Versailles, but you'll have to read about that tomorrow.
Friday, I fulfilled a life long dream. We spent an entire day in the Louvre. Those who know me, knowI am a HUGE history buff and art lover (and yes, total nerd). So, where better to be than one of the greatest museums in the world?? I was in my glory.....only 2 or 3 people on this earth will ever truly understand my fascination with our first leg of the tour; those being Mir, Mom and Andria.
We begin, as it should.....in ancient Egypt....
Let me get one thing out of the way....Dr. Zahi Hawass is a quack and I want his job.I tried to make the exhibit as interesting as possible for Mir, which probably made it less interesting (borderline unbearable), but I quite literally to covered everything from early pyramid making to Akenaten and Tutankamon. It took us a while to find it, after getting lost a few times but I did it.....I finally got to see the famous bust of Akenaten. Many of you might not comprehend the significance of this.....but like I said, only 3 people will ever truly understand how I felt at this moment.
We went on through Egypt and took some amazing shots and had some fun on the way.
This is how I want to go.....
Mir wanted to break the case and steal this ring......
Mir, testing the Louvre's security systems......RUN!
My other passion after history and art....monkeys....but ancient egyptian monkeys?? Are you kidding me?
After ancient Egypt, we went on to Mesopotamia and were blown away. Again, I've seen them in text books, art books, posters, you name it....but to see the glazed brick work of "the archers" and the gryffins, was amazing.
My main reason for wanting to go, was to finally see the famous Code of Hammurabi.....it's all I could think about after finishing with Egypt and what do I get??? The friggin thing was moved to the temporary Babylon exhibit and I was not about to pay extra to see it! So, after roughly 3 hours between Egypt and Mesopotamia, we took a lunch break at the cafe under the glass pyramid and rested our legs, which were already killing us from the day before. After a brief lunch, we were recharged and ready to go....
We got lost a few times but managed to find the big 4; the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace and Michelangelo's "The Dying Slave" but aside from the Michelangelo, I was more impressed with the Caravaggio, Giotto, Rafael and Da Vinci's other works.
We ended the day in Napoleon's apartments and in the Apollo Gallery with the crown jewels of Louis the XVI...and wow....talk about over the top! These cats lived large! I was about to have my own revolution up in there after I saw all of that.....I'm telling you, those French peasants were on to something there!
And so, 7 1/2 hours passed and we gave a go at the Eiffel tower as the sun began to set.....but alas, our own fatigue and hunger caused us to turn around. We knocked on the door, but no one was home so we promised to go back another day......which will be Sunday when we take a boat tour on the Siene and a walking tour of the Eiffel Tower....next posting....Versailles.
