Camouflaged in the Square

 On Friday afternoon, after a fun day of shopping, Amy and I met up with Josh in front of the Catacombs. I moseyed over to Square Georges Lamarque near Cimetiere du Montparnasse, while the two of them moseyed down a dank dark stairway to view their fill of bones!

I had about an hour to read my book in the fresh air. As you can tell from the photo, I fit right in with my surroundings! It was a bit chilly and started to sprinkle only as soon as I put my book away and headed back to meet Josh and Amy.

See those tables near the center of this photo? They are ping-pong tables! We've spotted quite a few in parks and I've been delighted to witness couples bringing tidy leather bags with their matching paddles and balls so they can play a quick competitive game. I feel a slight kinship with them, as I happen to own my own paddle from the couple of times I joined ping-pong night at the Nazzaro Center with my North End friends in Boston!

I sat in front of the playground, where I was aware of two brothers playing together for most of the time. I'd say one was about 12 and the other 7 years old. They took their time on the slides and in the sandbox and then they were having a blast running around with the soccer ball they brought along. I only mention them because of what was soon to follow: the unfortunately familiar sound of the slap-smack of a soccer ball to the face, which was immediately followed by sobbing. For about two seconds I contemplated going over to help, but quickly scrapped the idea when I realized it was doubtful I could communicate with them and big brother had the situation well under control. He hugged his little brother's welted face to his chest and alternated shushing him and kissing him on the top of his head. When the sobbing subsided big brother slung his arm around little brother's shoulders and walked him over to a water spigot where they splashed little brother's face with cold water. A minute later all was well and they were on to their next task of moving all of the sand from one side of the sandbox to the other. It was a quick little happening, but the outcome made my park visit even sweeter.

photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Speaking of brotherly love, Josh and I went to see Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) last night. It was odd to be watching a movie in France, in which France was an enemy. We also may have missed a couple of lines because there are a few bits in French, that weren't subtitled, due to the French audience! Let's see how many times I can say France or French in a paragraph! Yeesh!

Louvre

Friday before last, Josh and I took advantage of extended hours and discounted/free tickets for our first trip to the Louvre. This photo taken while we were waiting in line for our tickets. We had been in this area before, but I must say it is so incredible to stand underneath that glass pyramid after seeing it in photos for so long!

We took a look at our museum map and couldn't resist trying to tackle the E-ticket pieces during this first visit, but it was easy to get distracted. This statue of Isis really caught my eye with it's contrasting stone.

The Old Fisherman/ Seneca Dying was also truly incredible. I'm not sure what the eyes are made of, but amazing artistry was at work to create that sort of emotion from stone!

Here we arrive at the room at the top of our list! See that frame peeking out over everyone's heads? There she is! Leonardo de Vinci's Mona Lisa.

Such an icon! Josh and I both knew to expect the small size of the painting, so there was little surprise there, but it was really something to see it in person. What I liked about my closer look was really getting to see the sfumato painting technique and how each shade blended into the next.

You can barely see Josh in this shot - thought I'd take a self portrait with this bust while he mapped out our next move!

This is not an uncommon sight in and around the Louvre. The Tuilerie Gardens are full of chalky pebbled walkways that inevitably give ones shoes a nice dusting!

We walked through a long arched hallway of statues, to find The Winged Victory of Samonthrace at the top of a staircase. 

Cy Twombly's ceiling in the Salle des Bronzes. This picture doesn't quite capture the glow that his bright ceiling added to the room of artifacts.

Taken from the room next to Twombly's. You can see several monuments in the hazy distance, as well as a good example of the atmospheric perspective in Paris. It's easy to begin to see things through Impressionist eyes. Even during the day time, from not too great a distance, the Eiffel tower appears to blend into the sky as if it is a piece of it rather than something piercing it.

Venus de Milo, the contrapposto queen!

Sarcophagus of a Married Couple. I don't know if this is the one I remembered from our art history books, but it was exciting to spot this terracotta pair.

We plan on returning, but it was definitely a satisfying first visit! Here's a view of the central area all lit up. After we left we walked around the area for a while before heading back.

An evening tour boat lights up the banks of the Seine. Look at all of the people lounging on the right side.

This was in my collection of proud men on horses from the red car tour post, neat to get a little closer!

Pont-Neuf Metro Station - I love the rainbow of coins spreading across the ceiling!