Paris, part 3

For my last hours left in Paris (I left at 11pm on a red-eye bus), I wandered from the grand palais to the Louvre, a path that took me straight through place de la concorde - the wintery sunlight was beautiful! 

and into jardin des tuileries...

The pools and gardens were bare due to the December weather but on such a clear day, they were still wonderful to walk through!

I love this view...didn't make it down to the arc de triomphe this trip but love how you can see it through this arch near the louvre! 

(such an attentive group of children listening to their teacher as they walked through! I was impressed)

Headed into the museum straight to the Northern European wing (dutch/netherlandish/flemish/some german painting) to begin with...

Durer's self-portrait at 22 - impressive copy by this woman (there were multiple people painting copies on easels throughout the Louvre...I'm guessing it had to be sponsored by the museum)

English aristocratic portraits by Dutch artists are always classics...this portrait of King Charles I is infused with typical Van Dyck swagger, the signature attitude he gives the people he paints

and then there was this beautiful object...truly, a masterpiece.

I kept stopping to look out the windows on my way around the building...it was something I've never appreciated the past three or four times I've been there and was actually surprised by the views!

This is the view through a (rather dirty) window towards Sacre Coeur! Definitely gave me a better appreciation for how high up Montmartre is

Next I headed towards the cafe just off of the room housing Delacroix and David...but was interrupted in my quest for food by these monumental paintings. I truly cannot get enough of the French Romantic Eugene Delacroix...my thesis (of which he was the subject) fostered my mild obsession with his work...

and my absolute favorite...Gericault

Quiche and an espresso rejuvenated me

and I was off to the Italian paintings! 

I really love these paintings below...when you look closely, you can see that the profiles are made entirely out of plants! These two represent two of the seasons, winter and autumn. Arcimboldo, the artist, was Italian but painted at the court of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, in Prague. Paintings like these were not meant to be jokes but instead loaded allegories...along the lines of if the emperor can control and command nature & the natural elements (by manipulating them in this way) so he can command the empire/world/universe...and in many of the paintings, there are academic jokes...mannerist courts were all about creating a culture of intellectual elitism and Arcimboldo was a major player in these circles, particularly in his paintings for the Hapsburgs.

 Other highlights were Veronese's Marriage at Cana

Leonardo's Madonna on the Rocks

and images of the crazy Venetian carnivals

sometimes I forgot how incredibly large some of these paintings are - you really just have to look up at them with awe

After finishing at the Louvre, the sun was just setting...and I thought there was no better place to watch the sun set then la tour eiffel. I'd actually never been up the eiffel tower because I lived there in the summer and each time we went, we just brought wine, cheese, and baguettes and drank (far too much) in the park in front - no fun to wait in long lines when you can lounge on the grass in front of the thing. This time though, I was alone, and in early December, there were zero lines to walk up the tower and it was less than 4 euros - why not!

Unfortunately, because of the cold, my phone (camera) died as soon as I got up to the first level, but did manage a few pics. No matter, the image is imprinted in my memory - it was truly breathtaking to see the sun setting on the city and the buildings bathed in the golden wintery sunlight. Totally worth it!

and so ends my day. 

All in all...although feet hurt, it was a spectacular, though rather brief, visit to one of my favorite cities. I certainly hit up my favorites and was so excited to see les bohemes and l'impressionisme et la mode, as well as take a trip through the Louvre and see so many of the works I've been studying the past few months (really good place to test myself before I look at the labels, and so much more fun than doing it via powerpoint in the library)

goodbye paris, until next time!!