So it seems a bit ridiculous to determinedly blog about things in the order that they happened, when I'm now three countries behind, but I'm going to anyway, because otherwise *I'll* forget everything that I've done, and we can't have that can we?
But this will be the final post about Paris!
And I could hardly not mention the louvre now, could I?
Arrived just after opening, only a short queue outside. Hurried inside, failed to obtain any concession or love despite having prepared for the last 9 years or so to visit this place.
Followed the crowd: figured it would be best to get Mona out of the way first and hopefully while not too many crowds. Soon discovered this is impossible dream. Started pondering theory that Dan Brown only wrote Da Vinci code in order to get some kind of access to museum to see Mona unhindered. But surely that book wouldn't have had that effect on the French? Anyway, no painting can really be fresh after the hype that She receives, but it is still incredibly beautiful, don't know how Da Vinci got the effects that he did in his work, but he certainly was an amazing painter. [should really rename this blog to nerdstatingtheobvious.blogspot] Having followed the herd up a few staircases and around a few corners, I then had no idea where I was and had to regroup a little to find an approach to the Louvre that meant I could cover the key things in an ordered fashion. So I just wandered around in a kind of hyper-overstimulated way, because everytime I tried to stop go back to some kind of starting point, I would go around a corner and find myself startled by some old friend from art history - Gericault's Raft of the Medusa, (fecking enormous), more Da Vincis, Caravaggios, Cimabue! Giotto! ... and so the excitement continued, for ages, and then I stopped, figuring I'd covered a decent percentage... which of course I hadn't ... the percentage of the Louvre I'd covered would be a broom cupboard at the Nat Gal of Aust. So I had to be brutal, looking at the map, 'Today, I do not care about decorative arts, Greece, Rome, Egypt (except for Coptic Egypt), Asia and so forth.' I could have used those shoes with wheels on the soles though, especially for the french paintings circa Fragonard ("I'm going to paint chocolate boxes, lots of chocolate boxes! Weeeeeeeee a woman on a swing!" Get a grip man.) but went into an interesting dribbling and twitching state of joy in the Spanish section. Didn't really make up for not being able to include Madrid this time around, but at least laid a few planks of restitution. [and we're just going to pretend that that's a metaphor that makes any sense]
Sculpture: stuck to the marble. Winged Victory is one of the best placed works of art anywhere, ever. Michelangelo's Dying Slave. Canova. Borghese Gladiator. Happy Happy times.
Anyway, seven.hours.later. Went on a hunt for Coptic Egypt, and came close to having a panic attack (well, more of a temper tantrum, but one does not have tantrums in the louvre) because I got completely confused and lost in a strange corner of ancient Greek sculpture, and was very tired. But did think to myself 'surely the only time I would get grumpy to be seeing this' but there's only so much it is physically possible to see in a day...
Left Paris the following day, completely exhausted by not getting very much sleep but more art than my feet could bear.
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