I realize it's been a while since my last European Adventure Recap Post.....and well, most of you might not have realized I wasn't done recapping that trip yet. In fact, I'm only about half-way through the trip (I'm posting it chronologically). We left for that trip over a year ago (Oct. 21), so I had really hoped to be done with these recap posts by this time, but life, work, and lots of other fun travel and memories have left little time for blogging regularly (not that I'm complaining too much!). While you may wonder why I even bother to finish recapping a trip that happened over a year ago, I myself, am really enjoying going back and learning about all the places we saw and the history behind them. Plus, at some point, I hope to make all these posts into a printed book.
Anyhow, without further adieu, here's the next recap from my 30th Birthday European Excursion (picking up where the last post left off):
Sunday October 25, 2009
Paris, France
As we walked along the Seine, we passed several well-known places in Paris. One of these places was the Musée du Louvre (or Louvre Museum, pronounced Loove). There is so much history in this place and so many changes made to it! I provide a very brief synopsis of the Louvre's history all gathered from the museum's website. Go there if you really want all the ins and outs to the many, many, many changes this place has seen. I just couldn't capture it all here.
This is the side of the Louvre, along the river.
Built around 1190, the Louvre's was original purpose was to serve as a Fortress "to protect the capital from the Anglo-Norman threat", complete with a moat! (Apparently the Anglo-Normans were running around trying to capture other people's land).
The Fortress eventually gave way to other uses and "in 1364 Raymond du Temple, architect to Charles V, began transforming the old fortress into a splendid royal residence."
After Charles V resided in the Louvre, he was succeeded by his son, Charles VI (makes sense, huh?). After Charles VI passed away, the building sat empty for an entire decade. François I moved into the Louvre in 1527 and started some remodeling. The changes included tearing down some old portions of the building and adding new ones. All these changes took time and many Kings there lived throughout the construction process all adding their own touches.
While watching the sunset near the Louvre, the sky was taking on some really pretty light.. I love the pink clouds!
I know this picture is really similar to the one above, but I love them both and couldn't decide which one to use, so I just decided to use them both! The top one shows more of the clouds, while the bottom one shows more of the building.
This was an arched walkway leading to the interior "courtyard" like area between the wings of the Louvre.
Because the building had two very long "arms" down each side, Henri IV(one of the Kings that lived there) didn't want them to look exactly the same - he wanted some variety. So, "two architects were hired: Louis Métezeau for the east end and Jacques II Androuet du Cerceau for the west." After Henri IV came the Louis' (XIII, XIV & XV). They also made many changes to the building - starting and stopping construction multiple times, tearing down, rebuilding & adding as each saw fit and enduring setbacks all through the process (such as a fire).
"In 1791, the revolutionary Assemblée Nationale decreed that the 'Louvre and the Tuileries together will be a national palace...for gathering together all the monuments of the sciences and the arts.'' The Museum officially opened it's doors on Aug. 10, 1793. After the going through a few operational changes & even more construction and surviving World War II the Museum was eventually firmly established and is what we see today. In 1981, the large glass pyramid was inaugurated. "Rising from the center...it is the focal point of the museum's main axes of circulation and also serves as an entrance to the large reception hall beneath. From here, visitors can also reach... displays on the history of the palace and museum...an auditorium, and public amenities (coat check, bookshop, cafeteria, restaurant)."
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