The Louvre

Despite the tourist annoyances (see above post) and despite the horrid lunch (see above post) I absolutely had to go that most famous of famous museums...The Louvre.

First I have to get this out of the way. I don't want this to ruin the readers experience of my experience. So I must say it now.

People do NOT stop and STAND and look at your STUPID MAPS right in the middle of a walkway! I cannot stress this enough. I swear I was ready to kick some ASS. Ugh!

Alright...

I'm done with that.

The Louvre is immense. It is, just as I was told, far too massive to see in one day. So I focused on two sections...ancient Greek and Egyptian artifacts and statues. Yes...I didn't see the Mona Lisa. I apologize. I saw some very cool paintings of Paris from way back when...which were fantastic.

But soon I found myself wandering through halls of ancient art. I mean seriously ancient...BC type things from Egypt.

I simply wasn't prepared for what my eyes beheld.

In all my life, through years of Discovery and TLC and History Channel I had never imagined the level of detail that these items possessed. Obviously some artifacts were damaged by time and weather...and people. Some were obviously crafted by unskilled hands. But some...the detail...the tiny fine lines around a 1500 year old stone relief of a woman holding grain, the intricate carving of a bulls head...cut out of granite...burried in the desert for untold centuries...it was almost more than I could handle. I would literally spend 15 minutes looking at one carving, imaging the time it took, the tools, the patience, the care... I was simply lost in a world of antiquity. I felt honored that these people, from days so long past, would be willing to share something like that with me.

I initially wanted to take pictures of EVERYTHING. Then I tried to settle on things that I though would identify with specific family members and friends. But soon I was hopelessly (rather hopefully) lost in trying to absorb as much as my mind could consume.

I found myself reaching out to objects...wanting to touch them. Wanting to feel stone that had been so meticulously cared for and carved...handled...burried...discovered...handled...moved... My hands would brush glass involuntarily as I thought of someone holding that tiny piece of marble, or jade, or wood. I wanted to hold it. I wanted to experience what it was like.

I was filled with a sense of...well...of a lack of place in the world. Where was my lasting contribution? Will someone, a thousand years from now, find something of mine and ponder its meaning...its use...its reason for being?

Then I thought...perhaps I have. Perhaps some silly thing I made in boy scouts, or a piece of refridgerator art in a parents drawer, or picture taken on this very trip...will somehow survive the test of time.

And all was good with the world.

It was very interesting to see the contrast in craftsmanship in the items I saw. Some, obviously utilitarian. Some obviously were practice or by children. Some looked to be made by gods.

But as I moved through Egypt and Greece...through Mesopotamia and Sumaria...I came to statues made in the late 1700s-late 1800s. They were impressive...huge blocks of various stone carved down to minute detail.

But I thought...so what?

OK, so I couldn't possibly create what those artists created. They captures aspects of the human form that even photographs don't show. The veins on a mans arm as he fights a serpent...the folds of a woman's gown as she picks grapes. The curls in the hair of a Baron or King. All beyond my capabilities.

But then I thought of the items...the items that were twice the age. I thought about them and said to myself...well hell, these are just bigger. Impressive for sure...but to me, they simply don't hold that "presence" that the more ancient objects do.

Here are some pictures...that do absolutely NO justice to what I saw. Enjoy them for what they represent...not for what they are.

FYI I have the full size ones should anyone want them emailed.

This one came out very well I think. It was Greek, and beautiful.


I found this interesting. It was massive...several feet high and even more across. But someone, clearly, had deafest this one section (and a bit of another). I stared for a while at it...wondering what the story was. I doubt we will every know.


Cats. Who doesn't love cats?

This was found, I believe, in Greece somewhere, I think closer to present day Jordan. I found it strikingly similar to pre-Columbian South American carvings. It really made me wonder.

Oh how I wish this came out better!! The detail on these tiny items...that oval one in the center is about 1.5 inches long...the detail was astounding. I touched the glass by mistake.