4-16-09 Paris Day 2

Today was our first of two visits to the Louvre. It was an especially busy day, apparently because the banks were all closed for a holiday, freeing up thousands of bank employees for a day of recreation, and thus, extra museum visitors.

Having taken a course in Ancient Greek, I was excited to see some of the Greek pottery, which bears inscriptions in Greek. I was hoping to be able to read some of them. It turns out they are almost unintelligible, and they are written in all upper case letters and usually upside down or backwards. They were very interesting though. I noticed a few kalos inscriptions, which meant that the vase was commissioned by a lovestruck patron for the purpose of being given to a love interest as a gift. The word kalos means “beautiful” or “noble” in Greek. The scenes on the vases ran the gamut of Greek history, from Homer to the Peloponnesian war, and some mythology, including the Amazons.

I also discovered that I like Romantic painting. However much I disagree with Romantic authors and some of their philosophers, the Romantics knew how to get a rise out of a viewer of a painting. One artist I took a particular interest in was Jacques-Louis David, who for a time served as a painter (or propaganda artist) for Napoleon.

That was mostly it for our first day to the Louvre. We saved most of the modern art and the Egyptian/Assyrian stuff for a later day. We went off to find some coffee, only to find that the French idea of coffee is the same as that of the Italians – only espresso, and very expensive. McDonalds had a decent café inside, and their word for an Americano was a “café alonge.” It is extremely difficult to find aspartame sweeteners in Europe (I know it is toxic, but it is what we are used to), so I skimmed the whipped cream off Natasha’s drink and put it in my coffee. This turned out to be the best cup of coffee I’ve had in Europe. They still can’t hold a candle to the local Seattle stuff.

The second part of our day was reserved for the Champs-Elysees, which starts at the Louvre and goes all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. Along the way are some fountains and a commemorative obelisk, taken from Egypt, and placed on the spot where Marie Antoinette was made “a head shorter on top.”

When we reached the Arc, we happened to be there just in time for the daily rekindling of the flame atop the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which lies directly beneath the Arc. This must have been a special occasion, as some monks were present in addition to some war veterans, politicians, and soldiers armed with assault rifles and bayonets. We didn’t have a great view but it was still neat to watch. This may have had something to do with the bank holiday, but we scoured the news and couldn’t find any information about it.