Paris Day 4 / Pt 3

Part two of our visit to the Louvre. It's kinda surreal seeing some of these pieces of art that up until then, you've only seen in textbooks and internet pics. 

Fortunately, just because I've seen them before many times in images doesn't mean they appear less impressive in person. 

Kitties! Ok, really though, one thing we never heard about was the Louvre's expansive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Unfortunately, save for mummies, the rest of Egyptian culture never really caught Michelle and I's interest, so we felt it more annoying than anything when we had to go through the huge halls several times trying to find a way out (they were constructing on part of the building which would have otherwise provided a looped route. Also, the exhibited top floor does NOT connect to the rest of the floors as we were misled to believe).

Michelle is trying to stay interested, but all of this extra-ancient stuff is beyond our tastes. 

Well, except for mummies of course. Because who doesn't love checking out dead corpses, right?

Ok, last pic of the glass pyramid. Really is a slick way of combining the older monumental buildings with a modern layout. 

Another thing we never heard of was this calming sculpture garden. Didn't really get a chance to check them out, but it seemed to be a serene location for folks to have a lunch break or students to sketch. 

The huge skylight helped set the calming mood. 

A view of the Parisian rooftops never gets old. 

There was an attached shopping center to the Louvre with this inverted pyramid as a center piece. During the evening and low-light times, it looked jewel-like coming down from the ceiling. Just another thing that I wished I had gone back to at night to check out. 

Even when spaces were empty, it still looked amazing. 

Next we'll go explore more beyond the Louvre and its obnoxious souvenir vendors. (Seriously, if they were this bad during the off-season, I'd hate to be around during Summer. I feel sorry for any family/timid tourist who doesn't shout them off). 

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Paris Day 4 / Pt 2

Just some images of our wanderings through the Louvre. 

Keeping it classy :P

Pretty neat that people can set up a canvas and paint away. Though it's kinda pointless having that photo taped on the canvas for reference when the real piece is in front of her. 

Amazing ceiling pieces. 

And of course, the main reason why a lot people go to the Louvre, the ever famous Mona Lisa. 

Michelle proud to knock it off her lists of things to do in life. 

Nice place to have a field trip!

One thing that was kinda cool to see was how they preserved some of the old castle that the Louvre was built upon. Next post, the second half of our visit to the Louvre!

Paris Day 4 / Pt 1

Day 4 now in Paris as we go to the second most visited location in Paris, second only to the Eiffel Tower. 

I love modern architecture, but there's something to be said for these solid marble buildings, especially on a sunny day such as this day was. 

Heading to the ever famous glass pyramid. 

As we neared, however, we noticed these people standing on some blocks doing some strange poses. Then we figured why and of course had to take a pic of our own...

Don't drop it!

Fortunately we were in Paris during the off-season, so the crowds weren't too bad. Had to wait about 3 min. to get in and once inside, we rarely saw a crowd (save for Lisa of course). 

Next up, inside the Louvre!

Paris / Day 2 Pt. 1

We begin day 2 off to a wet start. Almost as soon as we get out of the Metro to our first stop, it begins to rain. Apparently, 20% chance means 20 min. of rain, which doesn't sound that bad except during that 20 min. it absolutely cascades. It goes bright and sunny, sudden biblical flooding (lightning and thunder included), then back to sun again. Best thing to do is just wait it out, as we did at the entrance of beautiful St. Merry. 

We eventually arrived at Pompidou which was larger than I always imagined. Architecture with an external structural skeleton isn't really unique nowadays and the elevator tubes reminds me of the Macy's Mall in Beverly Hills, but it still looked pretty impressive nonetheless. 

These smoke stack things looked pretty neat, but the acoustics from them facing down towards the museum entrance was really, really good. You could hear this kid playing some little weird sax throughout the whole courtyard.

Up we go...

This was the first time seeing above the city up close (Sacre Coeur was great, but it was too far). As far as size goes, it's definitely larger than London. I was able to walk across London fairly easily, but walking across Paris would take the majority of the day. 

There's that Eiffel tempting us again. We'll get there soon enough...

Mandatory selfie for Michelle.

Sacre Coeur again. Again, from the looks of it, you'd never guess that only an hour ago there was pouring rain, lightning and thunder. This wild weather is something we've had to get used to while staying here. On the plus side, it tends to leave as fast as it shows up, so you only need to find shelter for at most 30 min. before being ok to go back out agian. 

Cool LED signs inside. 

Here's the Stravinsky Fountain with a bunch of cool sculptures. Wish they were running though. Finding a fountain in Paris this time of the year that's actually running proved to be pretty rare. 

Gotta love the juxtaposition of these two great pieces of art being adjacent to each other. 

The full sun just after the rain made for some wonderful (although very intense) lighting. 

And lastly we saw the Saint Jacques before heading to the island to see the most famous Parisian church of them all. 

London / Tate Museum

And so we began where we left off, at Borough Market, as we head west along the South Bank towards the Tate Museum.

We have still yet to get any Monmouth coffee, but from what locals have said, it's supposedly London's equivalent to SF's Blue Bottle Coffee. We'll see...

As we walked away from the market, I spotted a brand new S Class. First one I've seen in person and I gotta say, I'm a big fan of this gen. It just oozes class in a slick manner that the previous 2 gens could never touch. 

The colors...

Pretty interesting how they set up the Starbucks here. The hole-in-the-wall manner would not fly as well in the US.

A pretty cool LED firework display. They did a good job keeping the light grid low key and hidden. 

We've still have yet to go to a Wagamama. Their noodles look quite tasty and the prices weren't too bad either.

The Globe, where Shakespeare debuted his plays. It's still in use today, though nowadays they prefer women to play the roles of women.

What did the fox say...

And here is the Tate Museum which is London's premiere museum for modern art. Looks kinda like a huge factory right?

Of course the Millennium Bridge continues to be an outstanding structure to look at no matter which angle you stand.

Didn't I mention the size? It really is bigger than it look in these photos.

What's wonderful about it is how they left the center hollowed out to continue that theme of scale. Had this been filled up with its many levels of galleries, the structure wouldn't have seemed as impressive. But left in this manner with its cavity open to observe, it gave the impression of a massive hanger where blimps and rockets were built from. 

The ever amused Michelle...

Meanwhile a serious battle of good and evil was unfolding below us.

Dude needs a burger or something...

F-YEAH!

Most art museums usually have a pretty good gift shop but this one really had a ton of books I would have loved to go home with.

Last part coming soon. 

London / Victoria & Albert Museum

After the walk through Holland Park, we headed over to a nearby art museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum. One of the great bonus's of England is that most of their museums are free, so there's really very little excuse for not going to one!

The museum housed mostly older, classic art, but there were still a couple of cool newer pieces, like these lights "pouring" in through the ceiling. 

"Back off! She my woman!!" 

Lots of religious art housed here.

Jesus! Have some decency!  

This room was pretty incredible. Those pillars were absolutely immense, the largest easily over 120 feet tall with a spiraling sculptures around it. 

Now THAT'S a beer mug.  

Some kickass crossbows...

...as well as some real medieval suits of armor. Interestingly, the REAL suits that were used are actually quite flexible and didn't hinder the soldier's movements, countering how hollywood often depicts them.