This was the second half of our “Practice your French and learn some French history” tours: Palais Royal – Musee du Louvre, which is, interestingly enough, a stop on the 1 metro line and all of 4 away from my apartment. I live in an awesome location. Anyway.
These are the Colonnes de Buren, a modern artist who was asked to do an installation in 1986 by Francois Mitterand, then President. They are (obviously) still standing, and the kicked off a grand debate about the intersection of ancient history and modern art.
Here’s the wide view, with a random man walking down the middle. Only he’s not so random, because you see the red boards up all around the courtyard? He was helping to install those, and we got there just as they were putting up the last two. We nearly got clipped on the head, in fact. There are holes through which you can see the colonnes, but still. Lucky!
The black-and-white stripes were chosen to match these shades on the windows of the Palais Royal. Note: these are the same shades used at the Sorbonne.
The fountain in the next courtyard of the Palais Royal, behind which you see the windows of Sarkozy’s office. At least, I think that’s what it is – the explanation was a little hard to follow and it was a while ago. To the left, with the camera, is Monica, whose middle name is Mairead, which amuses me to no end (Chinese mother, Irish father). You might not be able to tell, but that ponytail she’s wearing? Goes past her butt. Whenever she’s not wearing her hair in a bun, she gets so many exclamations on it.
After the Palais Royal, we went to the Comedie Francaise, where I took no pictures, and then to the Louvre. This is one of the exhibitions you can see as you pass through the tunnel to the main courtyard. Look! Free Louvre!
And another!
The Pyramid, of course. I’m not really happy with these pictures. I think it’s the color of the sky.
The courtyard, and the Eiffel Tower, followed by…
The view straight down through the Tuileries to the Arc de Triomphe. Someday I’m going to have to walk that.
One of the smaller pyramids, off to the side. I wanted to create a juxtaposition of the modern glass art pointing to the old stone angel, but it kind of failed.
One of the gorgeous windows.
And, of course, seen from the “front”, a.k.a., the Tuileries, which we walked through next, and which I spoke about. They’re named after the palace which used to stand there, which was named after the tile kilns (tile = tuile) which were knocked down so the palace could be built. They’re not really my kind of garden, but they are green and pretty and popular with both the French and tourists.
This is a detail on the arch you walk through to enter the gardens. I thought it was very cool that, rather than being a scene of war, it’s just these people standing and talking. I’m sure it’s a very important moment in France’s history, but I just liked that.
Hee, pigeon on the head! I’m seriously, like, 8.
There are all these (replicas, I’m guessing) classic statues stationed frequently throughout the gardens. Here’s Theseus and the Minotaur, and then the rape of…ok, I’m not sure. The centaurs tried to rape a LOT of women.
And that’s our tour! Next up: an idle Saturday, complete with a trip to the base of the Eiffel Tower and the 10th Annual Techno Parade. Yes, really.
These are the Colonnes de Buren, a modern artist who was asked to do an installation in 1986 by Francois Mitterand, then President. They are (obviously) still standing, and the kicked off a grand debate about the intersection of ancient history and modern art.
Here’s the wide view, with a random man walking down the middle. Only he’s not so random, because you see the red boards up all around the courtyard? He was helping to install those, and we got there just as they were putting up the last two. We nearly got clipped on the head, in fact. There are holes through which you can see the colonnes, but still. Lucky!
The black-and-white stripes were chosen to match these shades on the windows of the Palais Royal. Note: these are the same shades used at the Sorbonne.
The fountain in the next courtyard of the Palais Royal, behind which you see the windows of Sarkozy’s office. At least, I think that’s what it is – the explanation was a little hard to follow and it was a while ago. To the left, with the camera, is Monica, whose middle name is Mairead, which amuses me to no end (Chinese mother, Irish father). You might not be able to tell, but that ponytail she’s wearing? Goes past her butt. Whenever she’s not wearing her hair in a bun, she gets so many exclamations on it.
After the Palais Royal, we went to the Comedie Francaise, where I took no pictures, and then to the Louvre. This is one of the exhibitions you can see as you pass through the tunnel to the main courtyard. Look! Free Louvre!
And another!
The Pyramid, of course. I’m not really happy with these pictures. I think it’s the color of the sky.
The courtyard, and the Eiffel Tower, followed by…
The view straight down through the Tuileries to the Arc de Triomphe. Someday I’m going to have to walk that.
One of the smaller pyramids, off to the side. I wanted to create a juxtaposition of the modern glass art pointing to the old stone angel, but it kind of failed.
One of the gorgeous windows.
And, of course, seen from the “front”, a.k.a., the Tuileries, which we walked through next, and which I spoke about. They’re named after the palace which used to stand there, which was named after the tile kilns (tile = tuile) which were knocked down so the palace could be built. They’re not really my kind of garden, but they are green and pretty and popular with both the French and tourists.
This is a detail on the arch you walk through to enter the gardens. I thought it was very cool that, rather than being a scene of war, it’s just these people standing and talking. I’m sure it’s a very important moment in France’s history, but I just liked that.
Hee, pigeon on the head! I’m seriously, like, 8.
There are all these (replicas, I’m guessing) classic statues stationed frequently throughout the gardens. Here’s Theseus and the Minotaur, and then the rape of…ok, I’m not sure. The centaurs tried to rape a LOT of women.
And that’s our tour! Next up: an idle Saturday, complete with a trip to the base of the Eiffel Tower and the 10th Annual Techno Parade. Yes, really.
2 comments:
I am concerned by these centaur statues because I'm a Sagittarius. The centaur. The rapist centaur, apparently. Other than that, I continue to love seeing these photos. Keep up the good work!
Hahaha, as am I. Oh well. We'll go with Narnian centaur over Greek, alright? :D
Thanks!
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