EUROPE 2010 - MONUMENTS

MONUMENTS

EIFFEL TOWER (05.05.10)

This iconic symbol of Paris needs no introduction. I got my first glimpse of this monument on the drive from the Charles de Gaulle Airport to St Nom La Breteche (the suburb where Meera and Ajoy live) on La Peripherique (fancy name for the ring road). It took my breath away. The next time I saw it was two days later in the train, on the way to La Defense. It dominated the skyline along with Sacre Couer. It was one awesome view and is my favorite of the Paris skyline. 

How many ever times I saw the Eiffel Tower, from a great distance, always dominating the skyline, it was breathtaking. Up close however the story is different. It is just a large mass of metal. I came right to the base when on the open bus but was not motivated to get out and wait in the long queue to go on top. Then on thinking over, I wanted to go back, if not to go up, at least to take the mandatory photo at the base. So went back when I had an hour to spare. Decided not to go up for the lines were unbelievably long. Besides I had already the view of the Parisian rooftops from the Gallaries La Fayatte and the Sacre Couer.
Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel for the World Fair. Dubbed the metal asparagus it was criticized by the general public and was expected to be taken down after the Fair. But it stayed put, making it the most visited monument in the World. 

PLACE DE LA CONCORDE (07.05.10)

I had passed the Place de la Concorde couple of times on the open bus and below it several times on the metro, but I managed to visit it only the last day of my stay in Paris.

It is a large square between the Tuileries and the Champs Elysee. During the revolution the guillotine was set up here and heads of over 2000 people including the King Louis XIV and Queen Mary Antoinette were cut off here. In a single month 1300 people were killed here. The story is that the stench of blood was so strong that a group of oxen would not cross the square.
The viceroy of Egypt, Mehmet Ali gifted France the 3300 year old obelisk in 1829. Then king Louis-Philippe placed in at the spot where the guillotine used to stand. The obelisk used to mark the entrance to the Luxor temple. 

The view of Champs Elysee and the Arc de Triomphe from the Place de la Concorde was amazing. 

ARC DE TRIOMPHE (27.05.10)

One of the stops I made on the open bus tour was at Georges V on Champs Elysee. From there I walked up to Arc de Triomphe. It is indeed a beautiful structure and for me as Parisian as Eiffel Tower. 

The Arc is the linchpin of the historic axis— a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route which goes from the statue of Louis XIV, in the courtyard of the Louvre Palace, to the Arche de la Défense. It was commissioned by Napoleon to commemorate his victories but he was defeated and exiled before it was completed.
On the Armistice Day, 1920 an eternal flame was lit and the body of an unknown soldier was buried under the arch.
INVALIDES (27.04.10)

Louis XIV commissioned the Hopital des Invalides as home and hospital for all the aged and unwell soldiers who were earlier living on the roads.

Napoleon in buried here now and though a small portion is still a home and hospital for soldiers, most of it is a museum dedicated to the military history of the country.

PONT NEUF (27.04.10)

Pont Neuf literally means the new bridge is ironically the oldest bridge in Paris, connecting the western end of Ile de la cite with both the banks. It is a beautiful place in Paris, one I have read about and always wanted to cross. Seine beautiful everywhere seems to be more so here. 

EUROPE 2010 - MUSEUMS

MUSEUMS

There are over 70 museums in the city of Paris. There are museums on varied subjects like smoking, perfume and magic among others. I read the LP Paris very carefully and marked out the few museums I wanted to visit. I wasn’t very keen on spending a lot of time cooped up in a building though I wanted some time to appreciate the art Paris is so known for. Only when I did go to some of the museums did I realized I like paintings and sculptures so much.
LOUVRE (27.04.10)

Is the largest and the most actively avoided museum in the world. I knew it was large, had read about how it takes a person 9 months to cover the museum if he spends 30 seconds in front of each exhibit, saw the building from outside when on my open bus trip and still wasn’t ready for the sheer size of the museum when I walked in. 

I had read about the long lines and thankfully didn’t have to wait at all. Got my ticket, admired the inverted glass pyramind and walked right in. I knew where I wanted to go... to the right wing, 2^nd floor – which is where the European Art is kept. Went straight up and the first corridor took my breath away. It was huge. And it was crowded. The first corridor had a lot of marble busts and statutes and the there were rooms open left and right with paintings. There was so much. Not surprisingly (I don’t know why I was) everywhere you looked there was art. It was a total sensory overload. My first impression was of being overwhelmed. The second feeling was an intense desire to get out. 

I took a deep breath, fortified myself, and ploughed on. I wanted to see the most famous work of art – La Joconde or Mona Lisa as it is more popularly known. There are clear signs to Salle 6 where the painting is kept. Walking into the room was like walking in to a theatre the day a Mohanlal movie is released. It was packed beyond description. I pushed, squeezed, ducked in between legs to reach the cordon which kept people at atleast a 10ft distance away from the painting. The entire wall is dedicated to this painting whih is heavily protected in glass case. The whole arrangement and the crowd made it unimpressive. On the wall opposite was Da Vinci’s “The Wedding At Cana” which I found much more pleasant to the eye. 

Palais du Louvre began as a fortress built in the late 12th century under Philip II. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1672, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, which started with 16 paintings include La Joconde. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces.

  

 

The Louvre now contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments. The Louvre exhibits sculptures, objets d'art, paintings, drawings, and archaeological finds. 
The glass pyramid was built by the Chinese architect I M Pei in 1983 during renovation. I had a feeling that an ultra modern glass pyramid in the middle of a 12^th century building will be a startling contradiction. Contrary to my expectations, it was quite pretty and fitted right in.
After spending an hour and a half there, I left the Louvre feeling overwhelmed, sure that my time will be better spent elsewhere.

ORANGERIE (27.04.10)

After leaving Louvre, I made my way across the Tuileries gardens to Musée de l’Orangarie. Housed in the greenhouses of the Tuileries Palace (the greenhouses are all that is left of the Palace after it was burnt down during the revolution) it was by far the best museum I have been to,

What I liked that most of this museum was its collection of Monet’s ‘Water Lillies’. There are two large oval rooms built according to Monet’s specifications which house 8 (out of a total of 250 paintings) of his ‘Water Lillies’. I was speechless on seeing them. I knew I liked paintings… I love some of the Ravi Varma paintings that I have seen in the museum in Trivandrum. But nothing has moved me as much as these water lilies. I spent about half an hour just looking at them. He is genius to capture the light, the reflection and the colors so perfectly. 

There were also works by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Rousseau, Chaim Soutine, Alfred Sisley and Maurice Utrillo among others. Renoir’s works especially were breathtaking.

ORSAY (26.04.10)

The Musée d'Orsay is housed in the former railway station, the Gare d'Orsay, built between 1898 and 1900. It holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography, and is probably best known for its largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world. It has paintings by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Gauguin and Van Gogh among others.

On the day I took the open bus ride, I spent the afternoon here. I took the audio commentary and spent a very content few hours looking at these masterpieces. I limited my visit to just the impressionist and post-impressionist paintings and enjoyed myself. 

RODIN MUSEUM (05.05.10)

Musée de Rodin eluded me the first two times I went there. The first time it was 5 minutes after they let the last guest in and the second time I went on a Monday and it was closed. I was very happy that I refused to get discouraged and went back on Wednesday evening for it was amazing. 

I saw famous sculptures like The Thinker and The Kiss. I had rented the audio guide and was interested in the story behind The Kiss. It is based on Dante’s Inferno, where Francesca falls in love with her husband’s brother Paola Malatesta when they read a book together. They kiss for a moment and then is killed by her husband. The male of this sculpture is holding a book in his hand indicating the book Francesca and Paolo Malatesta were reading. 

I was also impressed by Camille Claudel (Rodin’s mistress)’s work. She has done a sculpture of Shakuntala meeting Dushyantan at the end of the story. 

This museum is housed in Rodin’s house and it has Rodin’s personal collection of paintings too. There are paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The garden is pretty and interspersed with his sculptures.

MUSEE DE VIE ROMANTIQUE (07.05.10)

On my last day in Paris, I visited the museum of romantic life in Montmartre. The cobbled street to the museum is charming and worth the visit. 

PICASSO'S MUSEUM (30.04.10)

I also went to the Picasso’s museum, but it is closed till 2012 for renovation.