Paris, France – In the middle of cold Paris winter, there we were – Jeff and I – armed with awe and fascination of the past and its glorious productions. Inside the Louvre Museum, we drenched ourselves in the ocean of paintings and sculptures that great men and women made hundreds, thousands of years ago as expressions of grief, belief, love, life, regret. In this month’s edition of Travels and Travails, we are taking you inside The Louvre and gives you a closer look of the world’s most visited museum.
The idea of traveling to France during the cold months was raised by my dear husband. We had no choice actually as the period between January to February – the days and weeks leading to Chinese New Year – was the only time he doesn’t have work as the entire Chinese nation stops working and focuses on the merrymaking to celebrate the new year. The twins were left with their grandmother and this pair of happy feet packed our bags, boarded China Southern Airlines’ Guangzhou (China) to Paris flight, and thought about how else we can conquer Europe with our boots and mittens.
Jeff arranged the entire two-week trip and I just approved the budget and the itinerary. We got a two-day museum pass in advance to avoid the queue (we’re not patient about waiting and lines). But we soon learned that even a day is not enough to explore The Louvre.
A bit of history
Inside The Louvre, we were welcomed by an endless stream of people gawking at every single artwork on display. The entire museum was packed in winter so imagine how crowded the place is in the summer. More than nine million people visited The Louvre in 2012 making it one of the most visited, if not THE most visited, museums in the world.
Originally built as a fortress in the 12th century by King Phillip II, the Louvre has more than 35,000 objects under its roof, each with a story of its own. The Louvre Palace itself has a story to tell spanning the reigns of Louis XIV and Charles X. It survived the French Revolution and the collection increased under Napoleon Bonaparte.
It is not difficult to navigate your way around this massive edifice although the palace can be overwhelming. The artworks and masterpieces are divided into what they call as curatorial departments among them: Prints and Drawing; Egyptian Antiquities; Paintings; Near Eastern Antiquities; Decorative Arts; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Sculpture; and Islamic Art.
Paintings, sculptures, and the Code
I spent the most time in the hall where the Mona Lisa and Wedding at Cana were. My Mom would be crying at the sight of Italian painter’s Paolo Veronese’s interpretation of The Wedding at Cana. I took several pictures for her to cry on later.
Lovers kissed infront of the Mona Lisa while taking selfies to document the moment. To my right, a man proposed to a woman. No one clapped. It seemed that the woman whose smile was frozen in a frame was more intense than real people hugging and kissing each other to express their love. Jeff was content to see me in the crowd while he was comfortably seated on a wooden beach a few meters away from the Mona Lisa. I spent 25 minutes standing right across her looking, feeling, listening, trying to make sense of that smile that baffled experts for years. There was no epiphany. In the end, I concluded that the woman in the painting is just like any other woman, with several thoughts running in her head and probably, one of those thoughts just happened to amuse her; hence, the smile. I can do that smile while chopping vegetables.
Along the way, I stopped at more paintings by Da Vinci. I have no eye for details in paintings but I get unexplainable emotional connections with them. I stayed in this area for 45 minutes alone. I told my husband to find a space where he can sit and perhaps read the book that you brought along. He knew I was on the art realm and it would be impossible to uproot me out of it. It has to be me who would say that I had enough. I didn’t have enough at that point.
We spent some time marveling at the magnificence of Venus de Milo. I thought by sister-in-law Mary who is a magnificent painter and her son, Adam, who is a talented sculptor because I knew they will also cherish that moment of just staring at a masterpiece that lived longer than the man who made it and the ones who made sure that it stands for generations to marvel at and learn from.
World history was my favorite subject in high school. I was first introduced to the Mesopotamian Civilization when I was 15 and the Code of Hammurabi which is considered as the emblem of the Mesopotamian Civilization erected by King Hammurabi of Babylon (1792–1750 BC). It was a code of rules and prescriptions. Among others, it talked about civil and criminal laws with principal subjects covering agricultural, commercial, administrative, professional law as well slavery and family law. I remember reading about the longest chapter on family law and how it discussed issues pertaining to engagement, marriage, divorce, children, adoption and even, adultery and incest.
Talk, paint, draw
Going around the museum, I saw several adults and children who are seated or standing right infront a painting and studying them. I reckoned they must be painting students or perhaps self-taught artists and art enthusiasts who are looking for inspiration to improve their craft. It is not uncommon to see these people inside the museum.
Or field trips with children in them with museum staff talking about paintings and discussing art. This museum is alive! People talk about art. They know its part of life and thus, is considered worthy of more than an hour’s worth of conversation. The arts is definitely not dead here. People appreciate it by being IN the museum, by taking inspiration in them, by talking about them – and with that the arts live, the artists live because these people refused to remain silent. No art or artist is casted in the deep, dark dungeon of misery and nothingness.
Some tips
Paris was recently in the center of news coverages as it suffered a horrific and tragic incident on the night of Friday, the 13th of November, by suicide bombers and gunmen that left hundreds of people dead and wounded.
It was certainly not a happy scene. However, I believe Paris still is one of the most beautiful places on Earth – and within Paris, the Louvre is one of the most magnificent and meaningful place you would want to spend days in. If you’re planning to be in Paris anytime soon, remember that the museum is open all days of the week EXCEPT TUESDAYS. It’s open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I suggest buying your tickets in advance so all you need to do is to go to the entrance and wait for your turn to enter.
The Paris metro system is so easy to navigate and you can get there via Lines 1 and 7. Your stop: Palais-Royal Musée du Louvre.
Let me know how your trip went!
