On our way to the metro we stopped at a quiet cafe we got coffee at yesterday and sat down for breakfast this time. It was a great way to start the day as we sat and chatted, watching Paris life happen outside.
We got to the metro to find our train. This line was clearly more commuter heavy and there was much more activity. Luckily after our trip yesterday we were more equipped to navigate it and we found our train without issue. The ride was fairly short and soon we were at the Louvre.
The Louvre is indeed massive. There was a long line of visitors from all over the world, both individual parties and large groups, waiting to get inside.
We have a scheduled tour of some variety. We were a little lost until we asked group services, whom gave us a headset and lead us to meeting room.
Our tour guide came and gave us an intro on the history of the Louvre. It apparently started as a fortress around 1200. After Paris expanded to the point that the fortress and defensive wall were no longer useful, royalty repurposed it to a palace. Then many generations of royals added more and more to the palace and it began to transform into a museum that the rulers kept their many treasures in. After the French Revolution, the museum was opened to the people and became what we know it to be today. I was very interested by it's long and storied past.
We traveled through an excavated portion of the original fortress that began the Louvre. Our guide explained these were the foundations of a moat the surrounded the fortress. It was amazing to see such history.
They showed what I first assumed was graffiti but actually was a mark the stone masons would carve into finished blocks, a shape of a heart to designate the work a craftsman had done for the day.
From there we saw an original Sphinx taken from Egypt. Truly an amazing thing to see in person. We moved on and saw many amazing statues. I very much appreciated our tour guide. She would sometimes struggle to remember an English word here and there, but she was very informative and friendly.
I must admit that even though I have long had an interest in art, I have struggled to appreciate historic art. But viewing it through the history really made it very interesting to me. The work these masters put into their craft and the rise and fall of the powers that commissioned and horded them was eye opening.
The original Venus De Milo!
Winged Victory.
The Coronation of Napoleon.
One thing that really amazed me was seeing original works by Leonardo da Vinci.
I was standing right in front of original works by him.
Apparently da Vinci was so obsessed with studying every detail of the world to perfect his paintings and his many other ideas that he did not produce many works.
The Louvre is apparently has the largest amount of his works.
This was because he moved to France later in life and became a patron of the king.
They of course had the Mona Lisa. It has its own room to handle the crowds that congregate to see it. Honestly a lot of the most tourist-y tourists were a bit annyoying. So many people taking selfies with the picture and influencers clearly filming reaction videos. For some it feels like its just a cultural image. I know it doesn't matter how people find appreciation in things, but the gravity of the rest of the exhibit did not suggest any work of art in the museum needs to be treated like a joyful photo op.
But all gatekeeping aside, it was pretty cool to see and since its off season it only took a minute or so to find a spot in the crowd to get a good look at the celebrity painting. Also, I'm gonna be real. Looking back at the happy people in the Mona Lisa picture makes me feel bad for criticizing them. I don't know anything either.
After the tour we got lunch and walked outside to courtyard of the Louvre. It is truly grand.
I tried to imagine visiting it on official business when it was in its prime.
It is beyond stately,
I would assume that whoever ruled that palace was some type of emporer.
We looked at some of the shops nearby. There were many souvenir stands across the street, Lauren did some shopping before we went back.
Any area that has tourists has an abundance of miniature Eiffel Tower statues. Shops have racks of them, merchants sit on sheets and have them laid out for display, some vendors just have them hanging from keyrings that they shake at tourists. I have been making jokes about it since we got here: France's main export is Eiffel Tower statuettes. Most American households go through anywhere from 500 to 1000 Eiffel Tower statuettes annually. When you visit Paris it's cheaper to buy your Eiffel Tower statuettes by the pound in bulk to save money.
We hopped back on the metro and went back to our hotel to rest from the day at the Louvre.
Here are a couple shots of area near our hotel on the way back.
I spent a little time coding and napped with Lauren.
Lucas Carton:
We had reservations this evening for dinner at Lucas Carton. We decided for this trip to Paris we would have dinner at a Michelin star restaurant and after much deliberation we chose Lucas Carton.
Before dinner we went downstairs to the hotels champagne bar for a pre dinner drink.
One Uber ride later we arrived at the restaurant. It is in a historic building with a beautiful stone front facade. As soon as we walked in we were greeted by a full team of staff. They gave us a warm and formal welcome and took our coats before showing us to our seats. Our drink orders were taken with precision and menus were brought over. There was a level of service that I tried my best to enjoy and participate in, but at times did not know what do with. The menu itself was very understated, with a painting of flowers on a white textured paper, at the bottom in the white space the restaurant's name was very subtly embossed.
We got the 5 course meal.
They do not tell you what you are having, but they do ask if you have any allergies or strong food aversions.
Lauren mentioned her famous dislike of mushrooms.
Later the chef came out to visit the table, as I noticed he did with most guests, and asked if we would like to hear the full menu before he prepared it or if we would prefer to be surprised, which we opted to just experience it as it came out.
He was very friendly and charismatic.
The service was impeccable and each course came out with a full presentation of the food.
The servers all spoke English, but for many of them their accents were so thick I did not entirely understand what they were saying.
But the food and the presentation was so excellent it was almost just part of the experience.
I always love how french restaurants offer cheese before desert.
We were completely beat after that long day so as soon as we got back to our hotel it was time to sleep.
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