Howitzer

So, spent the last two days in Paris. The first day, went and saw a currency museum (disappointing), obelisk from Egypt (disappointing), Champs Elysee (pretty cool), and the l’Arc de Triompe (sweet!). The second day, we had an ambitious plan to tour the Louvre museum for the whole day. We lasted about two hours walking around that maze of a building before deciding to quit for lunch, and to buy walking shoes. I think we walked around 8km today, but about half of it was for shoe shopping. That was ridiculously stupid.

The Louvre….the world’s most famous art museum. Indeed, it probably has the most masterpieces of all the art museums in the world. Certainly the most famous ones. Just a taste, I saw Hammurabi’s stele, which I think is the first codified law in recorded history. For me, I was pretty awed in thinking about all the legislation we have now, and Hammurabi‘s Code being one of the earliest. Among the treasures of the Louvre, I also saw Winged Victory of Samothrace (I knew it as Nike of Samothrace). I really liked this one for the majestic posture of the wings thrown back, with the body leaning forward. I can definitely see how the appeal is actually enhanced by having the head and arms missing. What I also noticed about the statue was that the clothes on Nike had a gossamer feel to it. It was as if I was seeing through the thin cloth, as well as seeing the delicate linen ripple in the slight breeze. Definitely very cool, considering it was carved out of marble. The sculptor was an undeniable master.

.....and here's our daily dinner photos, from L'Alivi: