Continuing on our walking tour of Paris….Tues. was museum day…..first stop was the Louvre museum. Originally the Louvre was the palace of the kings…….I believe all the Louis’ lived there. It really takes more than one day to “do” the Louvre, but a few hours is really all one can bare. We got there early to beat the lines, but we weren’t the only ones with that idea. The glass pyramid, which is the entrance into the museum, designed by I.M.Pei, was very controversial when it first was being built. There were basically two camps…..many were for going forward with the new and modern concept, but the purists felt it was a sacrilege to destroy the history of the palaces of the Kings. They felt it should have been left as close to the original as possible, instead of plopping this glass “monstrosity” in front of such a magnificent building. I have to say, as beautiful as the glass pyramid is, I’m on the side of the purist. Of course the museum is known to have the famous Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” and the “Venus de Milo,” as well as “Winged Victory”. You remember the scene in “Funny Face” with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn… when she came down the staircase in a beautiful red gown and Fred A. plays the photographer, taking her pic with the Winged Victory behind her…..an iconic moment in film history. Afterwards, we needed a little refreshment, so we stopped at the famous “Angelina’s” on the Rue de Rivoli. It’s a charming “tea parlor” that was opened in 1903. There is a tiny picture, upper left, of Jac standing in front of Angelina’s with her bag of “goodies”. The picture of Jac at the window, with the gauze curtains, was taken in our beautiful Hotel room. What made the experience even better, was the wonderful view we had of the back gardens and the roof tops of Paris. Paris has some of the most magnificent gardens in the world with allees of trees and fountains where ever you look. The park above is the “Luxemberg Gardens”……it was right out of an impressionist painting. As a matter of fact, many of Seurat’s paintings were of the gardens. The fountain area was especially crowded…… where children float their sail boats and move them around with long sticks……….. We had another great day in Paris…………..
Louis and Jac…you look so wonderful in Paris…and Jac, in the white anorak and black tights with flats looks so chic…my favorite outfit when traveling. I have said so many times, but once again, your anoraks (I have the sage,black and the white are just the best Linea buys ever!) I love your taupe 3/4’s jacket too Louis…often my personal style is driven by men’s clothing and I find often I see and want a man’s jacket usually outerwear that is so beautifully designed and tailored. Is that your outerwear jacket you are wearing with your jeans? My goodness tweed for fall is right up my alley. I also noticed Jac’s polo shirts…which I used to wear all the time under sweaters because I like to “pop” the collar. Funny, I just bought them in black, white and navy… and now I see them worn beautifully by Jac. I want to wear the white and navy with your navy ribbed v neck sweater this fall. Between the sneak peeks and the Post cards, you and Jac delight all of our senses! … Thank you!
Bonjour! Thanks for sharing more wonderful photos of Paris! Angelina’s serves the most delicious hot chocolate I’ve ever had — thick, rich, amazing! Hope you two enjoyed a cup of hot choloclate in the tea parlor!
Louis,
My husband and I were in Paris this time last year and looking at your photos was like being there again. Did you get a chance to visit the Musée de l’Orangerie? I was an art major and looked at a thousand slides of Monet’s water lilies (we used slides back then and I suppose they use PowerPoint now) but seeing them in person actually was breathtaking. I had never seen them “live” before and it actually choked me up. Lovely. One of my favorite memories from the trip (that and the tour of the champagne cellars and lunch at Moet & Chandon). Thank you so much for sharing your photos.
Julia
Yes…..I took Jac there after the Louvre. She had never been there , so it was a special treat. It is an incredible place and the oval rooms with the water lilies is breath taking. Of course she loved it.
Louis & Jac………
Love your photos of you both enjoying Paris! What lovely days and wonderful memories. I haven’t been to Paris in over a decade, but your pictures brought it all back. My personal favorite was the Marmottan Musee with its special Monet collection…ones from his own estate. Exquisite food wherever you go. Thanks for sharing your vacation with us all….so we can dream/remember.
Wonderful pics of both of you, Louis! Now of course I am curious about what Jac has in her “goodie” bag :-). Some wonderful scents from Geurlain j’espere. Would you believe that I wanted the Peace Corps to send me to Northern Morocco so that I could fly to Paris on vacation and do some shopping? LOL! I am overwhelmed by the Louvre and stop “seeing” things after a while and have to return at a later time. Have you been to the Musee D’Orsay? It’s one of my favorites there. Looks like both of you had a wonderful, wonderful time.
Jac had goodies to eat in the bag from Angelina’s…..we had the Geurlain store send the package to the hotel, so we wouldn’t have to lug it around. Angelina’s goodies were almost gone by the time we got back to our room…..LOL….The D’Orsay is absolutely one of my favorite’s too…….Morocco wouldn’t have been a bad place to shop either!
Yes, the textiles of Morocco were part of my equation. A close friend in the same training program confessed that she also wanted to go to Northern Morocco for the same reason. Once in our grueling training which included running a mile through the jungle at 6AM, we were both quite relieved that we hadn’t written anything about shopping in our applications! What did we do, though, as soon as we arrived in Bogota to complete our training? We found out where the best markets were and WENT SHOPPING!!!
Louis,
Thanks to both you and Jac for sharing your photos and stories. It’s a treat to read (I also am on my lunch hour!). All this talk of Paris has inspired Kerry and I. We have a similar story. Both of us traveled back and forth to Paris routinely early in our careers, all for work, but always with a little bit of time afterwards for exploring. It’s such a magnificent place! At one point, Kerry was going 1x/month. But we have never been to the city together. I think we need to plan a trip! Much love – looking forward to the tower of goodies this week!
Thanks to you and Jac, I am “seeing” Paris during my lunch break. You two look so elegant. I swear some photos look as though they are from a “Vogue” shoot — particularly lovely is Jac by the gauze curtains. She looks magnificent. I’m so glad you included more shots of you this time. Very handsome, very cool. Thank you so much for your guided tours. Most of my visits to Europe have been to Greece and Italy. Only one time did I hit Paris, and I was part of AAA’s tour department. We made all the usual stops at the Louvre, etc., but everything was so rushed, as it was a business trip. However, we examined the George V and Plaza Athenee (I enjoyed that you mentioned it in a previous post), and I probably would never have seen as much of it as I did if I hadn’t been there for work. Keep your postcards coming, please!
Ahhhhhhh Chanel, Louis Vuitton…Oh and the Louvre too! Memories…thanks for sharing!
Thanks Louis, for sharing. Jac looks fabulous in black and white and you look handsome as well. Haven’t been to Paris in 5 years but your pictures brought back some wonderful memories.
Dariann