More Paris, S.V.P...

Then I conquered the Louvre. And I when I say conquered, I mean visited every room that was open for viewing, seeing every painting there was to see in those rooms, stopping and observing the ones I liked, having Courtney explain the history of many of the paintings (as her class takes place at the Louvre...what a great program), and body checking tour groups to get to the overrated stars of the show like the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Started out early with my new hostel friend, Claudia (character: Claudia, from Argentina, who also liked to have packed days of activity), and beat the crowds into the museum (what line?), got our audio guides, and headed out to get the Mona Lisa over and done with. Walked up the stairs and there, standing gloriously, was the Winged Victory, which rates in my top 5 favorite sculptures of all time. I didn't think much of it in pictures, but it is actually a beautiful and moving sculpture...and it's on a boat. Something that I think is integral to its composition, but is always edited out in every picture I had ever seen of it. We turn the corner and rush through galleries of masterpieces, pulling each other along as we gawk in awe, because we really just wanted to get to her before all the tour groups got there. Well...I have never seen such ridiculousness and chaos. It's on its own wall, is set under glass (I really hope the rumors that it's a fake is false), and is larger than I thought it was going to be, but she still doesn't warrant the kind of attention that she gets. She might be nice, has a pretty smile, and potentially is pregnant, but, she's just a girl in a frame, much like the other girls in frames. I don't know, I just didn't get why it was SO big. (Oh wait...DAMN DAN BROWN and his books. Did you know that you can get a specific Da Vinci Code audio guide that will just take you to all the pieces that are featured in the book? WHY?! This is tourism gone wrong.) Also, if you walk up to her (which is actually a difficult task) and then turn around, you see the most beautiful, intricate painting that takes up the entire wall! Much more worth it...and no one is giving it the time of day. Le sigh. I guess the biggies are introductions into the art world for most people and hopefully they will find the glory of other art forms...I don't know. Mona Lisa, you are a diva with an ego.

Everywhere you turned in the Louvre, there was some masterpiece to point and shout, "WHOA! That's HERE!" It truly does trump every other museum in the world. I guess that is what comes of emperors saying, "I want that in my museum" and then taking it. But this place is mind blowing. Room after room. My jaw was tired from dragging on the floor. And a cool thing is the old castle keep in the basement...go down and check it out. Courtney's favorite room, which, when she met up with me, she ran me to, is the Room of the Ego of Catherine d'Medici, aka a room with twenty or so life sized potraits of Catherine in all of her glory. I think Courtney wants a similar gallery some day.

Because it was the late night, the museum was open until 10PM. I arrived somewhere around 9:30AM and around 9:30PM I found myself at the Venus de Milo, officially finished with every room in the Louvre. And they said it can't be done! (And for all you nay-sayers out there, shaking your heads and denying that I saw anything, I took my time, and in the last hour, I realized that I might in fact be able to see everything, so I walked a little quicker through Mesopotamia to get to the ancient Greek and Roman statues.)

After Courtney's class, we went back to the St. Severin/St. Michael's area for dinner, and then met up with Courtney's program mates in the gigantic line at W.H. Smith for our copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! I know I posted about this already...the doors opened at 1:01AM, taking into account the hour difference between us and London and giving the British a one minute head start. Courtney couldn't wait to read it, and I think they lot of them started reading it in the taxi after they walked me home. I tried to read some, but one of the roommates complained about my tiny flashlight, so I crashed instead after page 63. Besides...my mind was quite full for the day...

Before meeting up with Courtney for our reading picnic in the park (apparently she stayed up until 5AM, so she is way ahead of me!), I walked over to the Opera Garnier, aka the Phantom of the Opera Opera House. Got my ticket for the English tour and found a great internet cafe to crash in for an hour since the internet cubicle at the hostel ate 2 euro and they wouldn't give me the money back. If you are going to see the opera house, don't go on the tour. It isn't necessary. You can go to any of the places yourself, and they only spoil the details in the book(/musical). Apparently there isn't a lake. Way back there used to be a creek of some sort, but by the time of the book's publication, there was a large water tank which might have been an inspiration. (?) The story the tour tells of Box #5 is that the directors were sitting in their box during a terrible performance of a sick soprano when they heard from a patron in the next box, or Box #5, say "That woman croaks like a frog!" The chandelier never fell, but one of the counterweights did when they were lowering it after cleaning. It crashed through the ceiling and killed a woman in the seats below. Or so the stories go... But the rest of the building is absolutely stunning! Marble and gold everywhere. And Garnier, the architect, put himself...and his wife...everywhere from busts to mosaics. Apparently one of the halls for the audience during intermission is mirrored on the other side of the building with all the gold and marble, but is strictly for the performers' warm ups. Wow. That's inspiring.

Was in a church when Courtney called and said to meet her at the Jardin Luxembourg. She had procured cheeses, nutella, fruit, and pan. With our picnic of food, our small patch of green grass to actually sit on (which is a rare comodity in Paris), and our great piece of literature, we lounged for the rest of the day, reading furiously until Courtney got almost to the end and said, "You must go home! If I reach the end, I know my reactions and hysterical crying will give it away!" So I fled back to the hostel and read in the lobby. At around 1AM, Courtney called to say that she had finished it, so I knew I had to keep going. Finally, at 4AM, I triumphantly and exhaustedly finished the book, which I hail as the best one in the series. J.K., you are truly a genius. Thank you for your wonderful masterpieces of British literature. Give it 50 years and excepts will most certainly be in the Norton Anthology of British Literature. It's a sure bet.

Enough of me tonight. Bon nuit!