Musee de Louvre

posted by Edward
6:50pm

Last night M and I, armed with ham and cheese baguette sandwiches and a bottle of red wine, took to the streets of the Islands. First we stopped for some streetside glaces, which is like gelato and delicious. Then we leisurely strolled through the neighborhood, stopping on a bridge to listen to a band of older men playing 1930s American classics. It was nice to sit on the bridge, overlooking the Seine, and having old Paris buildings and Notre Dame in the background.
We scrapped our Eiffel Tour plans because we ended up finding a beautiful spot along the banks of the Seine, and watched the sun go down in the shadows of Notre Dame, which we never get tired of admiring. We drank our wine, it's legal to drink openly in the street, and watched the tour boats drift by. Just a beautiful night.

Today, we woke up early to get more sandwiches at our street boulangerie and make it to the Louvre. When we got there, the crowds we feared were nonexistent. We made a beeline for La Jaconde, or the Mona Lisa. Sure enough, not soon after the infamous crowds formed and made the place difficult to navigate. Some other highlights of our visit were the Venus de Milo, The Astronomer by Vermeer, and The Raft of the Medusa by Gericault. Our favorite piece though was the Victory at Samothrace, circa 190 BC. We'll be sure to post pictures as soon as we get to a better computer.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped off for more sandwiches and another (bigger) bottle of wine to while the night away somewhere in the city one more time. Tomorrow morning, we have a train to catch to Amsterdam.