Paris Part Deux : Paris, je t'aimerai toujours !

Alright, we've finally found some free blogging time.  So here goes: the second part of our Paris visit.

Another site was La Cathedrale de Notre-Dame.  For those that don't know it, it's the grandest cathedral of Paris (arguably the world) with beautiful gothic architecture. It is also where Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" was set.  The place is really so overwhlemingly beautiful you could circle it over and over again and notice something new everytime.  The gargoyles are just magnificent, and on rainy days, they become efficient waters spouts, directing into the gutter.

 

La Cathedrale de Notre-Dame

 Gargoyles.  They come to life at night. 

Since we went on a Sunday we had the occasion of attending mass (je t'aime maman!).  My eyes teared as I listened to the beautiful choir voices and the exquisite melodies being played on such monolithic organ pipes. 

Another of the great sights (and I mean, so great we were fatigued within a couple of hours)  was Le Louvre.  The large, extensive, overwhelmingly vast museum-converted palace.  At over 60 000 square feet and with over 35 000 objects on display, you have to take this museum in small doses.  It would take over 9 months to see every piece (according to our guidebook) and so limiting yourself to certain exhibitions is a must.  We decided to focus on Egyptian, Roman and Greek anitquities.

  

 

I was dismayed to find out that most of these pieces were acquired by Napoleon thanks to his victorious battles.  So, I wonder, do the original sites of these sculptures and artifacts remain empty in their home countries today?  These masterpieces are the fingerprints of cultural identity. What stands in the place of where Venus de Milo once stood?  Do the Greeks get any compensation for their artifacts,  present in the Louvre?  I mean, millions and millions of people go to the Louvre every year (the most visited museum in the world) to see art that has been stolen by Napoleon from other countries hundreds of years ago.   Who gets the profit of showing these masterpieces?  Does France still own and profit today from what was stolen hundreds of years ago?  That's not right.  Just saying.

 Who owns this?

 

Ancient Egyptian mummy

"Who's a cute kitty? You are !  Wanna play....give me the ball you silly kitty"

Of course, we saw the museum's most famous pieces.....or crowds

The Mona Lisa mosh pit

Alors voila !  That's our time in Paris in a nut shell. Despite everything we saw in Paris....the thing that we appreciated the most wasn't all the world-wide renowned art, nor was it the monuments that date back to historic days that have changed our way of living. It wasn't the wonder of screwing together tons and tons of metal, nor the sounds, smells and sights that the city has to offer at no cost.  What we both appreciated the most of our time in Paris was the wonderful people we got to hang around with, laugh with and share with.  It was being part of the Parisien joie de vivre.

Aurevoir !