2004 Europe

Venus de Milo, Louvre



June 11 – Today it’s up and over to the Louvre. I have been hearing about this museum all my life and can’t wait to see it. We were driven into the basement of the museum and bypassed the line to get in completely. Joe has really taken care of all the details on this trip. We never have to wait in line for anything. As you enter the Louvre you walk through excavations showing the lower portion of the royal chateau constructed in 1204 by Phillippe Auguste that became the museum. Of course it has been greatly expanded over the years to 10 times its original size. Charles V and Francois I both made major changes and during the first and second empires much more was added. After walking through the ancient foundations we arrived at the Greek Gallery.



Tourism Note: When touring any of the major museums, while you are anywhere near a world-renowned work of art such as the ‘Venus de Milo’ or the ‘Mona Lisa’ be prepared to defend your personal space against forceful attack by camera toting Japanese tourists. They insist on standing directly in front of any important work of art while their friends snap and flash away with total disregard for the NO PHOTO and especially the NO FLASH signs clearly posted in any direction one could possibly look. In most circumstances their culture would find this behavior offensive and improper. I worked professionally with Japanese corporations for almost 20 years of my career. I met many very polite and respectful Japanese people both in the US and in Japan. In fact, I worked hard at learning their social customs because I found that the easiest way to impress them was to know how to act correctly. It seems that an exemption has developed for the Japanese citizen in travel status. Maybe that’s why I noticed it. Because it is so out of the ordinary as to be a little shocking... Nah! I noticed it because various, very pointy Japanese joints kept stabbing me in various parts of my midsection and shins. My personal values constrained me from returning the favor, but I have found that, if you time it just right, you can step in front of their photo just as the flash goes off. A quick ‘sumimasen’ or ‘ojamashimasu’ will force them to say that it’s ok and everyone bows and smiles. They sometimes have trouble hiding the shocked expression that results from bumping up against (pun totally intended) a gaijin with both Japanese language skills and a workable familiarity with their social customs. If you really want to shock them however, you have to inquire about the status of the latest sumo Yokozuna and asking about them by name as in “Do you think Asashoryu looks genki for the November basho?” It is absolutely impossible for the usually very controlled Japanese countenance to remain passive in the face of such and inquiry.



The major attraction here is the 3rd century to 1st century BC carving of ‘Venus de Milo’ (above). I must admit that I was prepared to be totally unimpressed by her after seeing so many pictures and reading so much about her. I am glad to say that I was very wrong. All the pictures and all the words do not adequately describe her presence. It is breathtaking. Even the Japanese tourists, pushing and shoving to stand in front of her for pictures, couldn’t distract from her beauty.



After that we went to the Hall of Roman Sculpture. Here we saw some great sculpture as well. The goddess Diana (below), the ‘Three Graces’ and the ‘Boy and Swan’ were beautiful but after the Venus they didn’t have the impact they would have had if you had seen them first. Sometimes chronological arrangement is not an advantage. Next was ‘Winged Victory’ and to be totally honest, I don’t get the fuss. It just didn't have the impact I was expecting and maybe that's the explanation. I wasn't expecting anything from Venus and I got struck dumb. I was expecting a hit from Victory and it didn't happen.



The Mona Lisa was in a temporary location as they are redoing a room especially for her. She is behind several layers of protective glass because, even though there are loads of signs saying no flash, the tourists, especially the Japanese, just keep flashing away. You could see her but not very well because some of the glass layers are tinted. I’m not a da Vinci fan as I may have said before, but she is quite remarkable nevertheless. You could spend days in the Louvre and not really see it. It was a shame to spend only 4 hours but we’re on a schedule and today is the last day of the tour.



We headed over to the Eiffel Tower (below) for touring and our farewell dinner. First we rode up the tower and enjoyed the views, then we had dinner at the restaurant on the first level. The dinner was very good but the restaurant made a mistake on the first course. It was supposed to be a green salad but they served ‘Fruits of the Sea’ (below), a mixture of oysters, sea snails and shrimp, instead. I loved it but 65% of the group wouldn’t eat it. Losers!! After dinner we went down and walked a few hundred yards from the tower to watch the sparkle show. For the millennium they attached hundreds of flashing lights to the tower and set them off for 7 minutes on the hour between 10PM and midnight. It was so popular that when they stopped it the outcry caused them to restart the shows. At 10PM when we watched it sunset is still underway and the sky is not dark enough for the full effect but it was still spectacular.



I finally got a good picture (below) of Joe Calwell, our tour organizer/host/guide and our Michel, our chauffeur, humorist and all around good guy, while we were up on the Eiffel Tower. They are posing with Danielle, one of our tour mates.



Then it was back to the hotel and to bed. We have two days of travel ahead of us to get from Paris to Ennis, Ireland. Eurostar train from Paris to London through the Chunnel. Then Virgin Rail from London to Holyhead, Wales where we will spend the night. Then Irish Ferry from Holyhead to Dublin and Irish Rail from Dublin to Ennis. Sounds pretty busy, huh?



Tour wrap-up notes: This was an excellent tour. The emphasis on history, art, architecture and culture were in perfect balance. Joe is a patient, thorough, very knowledge host and guide. His attention to detail made the whirlwind museum visits very user friendly. The local guides were all very good, and most were outstanding. The itinerary was well thought out and provided a wide variety of things to see in a very short period of time. Michel was an excellent coach commander. His driving skills were top notch and his ability to maintain his good humor in trying circumstances set a tone that helped all of us maintain our happy tourist countenance. The mix of characters on board the coach, the author being one of the oddest, made for a wonderful experience.

(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger