Hoke’s Ramblings

I like old stuff. I’d heard there was a lot of old stuff at the Louvre, so I went to check it out. There’s a LOT of old stuff at the Louvre.

My definitive guide on Paris said to get there early, at opening time, 9 AM. Following several blunders on my part (that marvellous sense of direction again) and others (some festival caused the buses to two of the closest rail stops to be disrupted, so I had to find a last minute alternative) I got there at 9:15, fearing the worst, but the guide also suggests entering via the Carrousel entrance, which I did, and practically walked straight in.

And walked, and walked, and carried on walking. Three major wings, of four floors each. I reckon I got to see about 75% of the museum, absorbing about 15% of it. That would be the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian exhibits. Very interesting, especially if you can read the captions in French, which I can’t.

Speaking of Egypt, I think Hitler would have thought the new glass pyramids at the entrance were even uglier than the Eiffel tower, and I have to say, I would agree. Giant glass monstrosities like that have no place near a beautiful monument like the Louvre.

I felt quite bad for racing past the volumes of history before me, but there just wasn’t enough time (or, to be honest, energy) to give each exhibit the attention it deserved. Nonetheless, I did get to see the Mona Lisa (a tiny painting surrounded by hordes of snap-happy tourists) and the Venus de Milo (pretty much the same story, tourist-wise) and several other famous paintings and sculptures. It’s really quite impossible to appreciate them for their merits in a bustling place like that, but I guess that’s the way it has to be.

After four hours of walking I went for a well-earned sit in the Jardins de Touilleres and then headed up Champs Elysees past the Luxor obelisk (more misplaced Egyptian heritage, but at least this one’s the real deal) to the Arc de Triomphe. Very big.

After all that, my memory stick was getting pretty full, so I went back to the hotel to download the photos and have a bit of a rest, but then I found the elusive supermarket. I’ve been told things in France are pretty cheap if you get them from a super market, and they were right. I bought a bunch of buddy cokes at less than a quarter of the street rate and a French delicacy called a Croque-Monseur, known elsewhere as a toasted cheese and ham sandwich.

Refreshed after my snack I headed off to Notre Dame. Let me tell you, there’s no better value in Parisian sightseeing than this. No charge to enter, and it’s really, really breathtaking, inside and out. Also quite a moving experience hearing the organs and choristers reverberating around the colossal chamber.

Since it was nearby, I thought I’d visit the church of St Sulpice, of The Da Vinci Code fame. For starters, it was MUCH bigger than I’d envisioned – bordering on Notre Dame’s proportions. Also beautiful inside, but I was there to see the brass ‘Rose Line’ and the obelisk from the book. While I was waiting for some people taking snaps of it to clear off, my eye caught a printed note, pretty much saying that all the stuff in TDVC is balls. However, it explained the real purpose – it’s used to measure the various solstices/equinoxes. Being an engineer, this fascinates me, and I intend to revisit it on Tuesday (the Summer solstice) to see it in action. I have my suspicions I’ll be disappointed, though (while perusing ‘Cracking the Code’ in the English section of the Virgin Megastore on Champs Elysees it says the Gnomon is now defunct – nevertheless, what better place to visit on the Summer Solstice than a place used to time it?)