Along the River Seine, there is an island called Ile-de-la-Cité which was the residence and seat of power for French kings in 0th - 15th centuries. On that island, nowadays, there are Notre-Dame Cathedral, Palais de Justice (Parise law courts), Sainte-Chapelle, and Conciergerie.
I took the métro to the Cité station. When I got off, I felt like I was in a futuristic kind of station, like those Star Trek times. The feeling came from the fact that the station is deeply below ground and has extremely high ceiling, like many storey high.
I know I could spend days just to study this church, its architecture, sculptures. The Notre-Dame Cathedral is considered the symbol of medieval Paris. I certainly didn't have that much time as a tourist. But one thing I couldn't miss - the Rose Window. That big round window in the mid-section above the 3 arches in the left picture of the towers with me here, was dazzling.
With such good weather, I couldn't resist. So I lined up to climb the tower, several hundreds steps each way again! In addition to an excellent view of Paris, I observed the rooftop drainage system of the cathedral and checked out the Great Bell!
This Great Bell cast in the 17th century weighs more than 13 tonnes!!! Adding to this weight are the 500 kg clapper and the 1.5 tonne beam through which the support structure (belgry) passes. Total of 15 tonnes!!!
With such a view, I almost forgot I've more places to visit.
The lower chapel, served as the palace's parish church looks impressive. I climbed up the narrow staircase to the upper chapel. It took my breath away.
The vertical stain glass depicts the whole Old Testament and statues of the 12 apostles are present in between the stained glass pieces. This is the only time I wish I still remember the whole Bible. But I don't. I remember mostly the books of Genesis, Exodus, Jesus' life. Like many tourists, I picked up a stained glass description and sat on one of the chairs around to study the stained glass. Yes, the stained glass is a Bible Picture Book. If I had time, I would love to spend a whole day here to study the stained glass.
By luck, I went into St-Germain across from Louvre not knowing the St-Chapelle organ is there.
Its fate is unknown. The last restoration was in 19th century and long overdue for a restoration ...
Conciergerie was the residence of the concierge, the most important officer of the king's administrative bodies. Certainly the building is not as fancy and looked more like a castle. Conciergerie is significant in Paris' history because it is the 1st prison of the town and Marie-Antoinette, field-marshal Ney (the future Napoleon III) were once imprisoned there.
(See pictures of the Conciergerie in the mid-album)
My feet were tired. I asked her if I could sit down on the chairs by the patio. She said, "Then I have to charge you more, for service. Go Go. Take it." She wanted me to save money!
Suddenly it enlightened me, I thought, "Paris is so beautiful. How different is it to sit in that patio than sitting by the river bank or any street?" The river bank outside Louvre is high, I didn't want to climb. So I went to outside the Louvre where there is some grass. But I found 2 men in sleeping bags sleeping. I didn't want to disturb them and just sat down on the pavement. No one gave me a queer eye. It is what Europeans all do I guess.
This is my view during lunch. Priceless should be, don't you agree?
Come on, the Colonnade of the Louvre, unobstructed as my view~
A short afternoon at Louvre Museum, what was my plan?
I knew I had little time for exhibits of the museum, so I set out to focus on the Palace building and a few famous exhibits like the Mona Lisa, Crown Jewels.
The inside of the Louvre is modernized with rooms lined with wood flooring. One can only try to get a sense of how lavishly the palace was once decorated from its exterior and the exterior corridors.
Look at the columns and flooring of the corridor.
Even I don't find the glass pyramids in the courtyard being out of place, I still prefer the palace to have a more original look.
I guess now is the time for exhibits.
It is forbidden to take pictures of Mona Lisa and the important paintings in the same gallery such as the largest painting of the Louvre, Les Noces de Cana. Because of the proximity of Italian paintings around, I checked them out. Italian paintings in that era have one common feature - human figures are extremely lively.
I found vivid paintings in similar style to ones I saw before in the National Art Gallery. It turns out Gros is a famous Italian artist in middle ages, Oh. And my American friend Scott was visiting Louvre at the same time too.
I happened to walk by the Egyptian gallery on my way to the Crown Jewels.
This is one piece of very well preserved wall painting.
Samothrace used to stand by the sea and guard people in the sea.
Now, this statue stands in the platform of a stairway where I discovered it by accident.
Venus de Milo has her own big room, her own air-conditioner with humidifier.
Fine details on a large statue show the workmanship of the artist.
Under the underground level, visitors are able to see the evidence of Medieval Louvre.
I was responsible for our Canadian booth of course. I was wearing my 2010 Olympics Tee. When anyone asked me where I come from, I just pointed to my chest. (Yes, I was a bit drunk..) How?
The whole gym was filled with people from all over Europe, Middle East, Africa. Everybody brought food from their home country. I contributed maple candies!
Many people were skeptical about maple candies as some never heard of maple trees. As soon as we told them it's sugar-free, all natural, comes from the tree, they eat it without a second thought. I guess Europeans are indeed very health conscious.
I tried Arabian coffee, candies and pastries from many different countries. I skipped the pig fat from Ukraine. I saved myself from all the French, Spanish, Belgium wine.. but.. the Croatians fed me their home-made spirits. Honestly, the Croatians are very friendly. They gave me a heart that evening and then gave me another one when seeing me at the airport on departure.
I came back to my booth being a little drunk just to find my American friend being fed by Belgians with over 10 different wines.
It was a good cultural exchange. I couldn't party all night like those students. My feet wouldn't let me dance much anyway, haha.
The Spanish girls are super friendly. If I didn't tell you, you would think we are all good friends. Haha, I don't even know their names.
Some other Spanish students danced tango. Impressive. Those students are not regular dance partners and it was very good. I wished I could dance tango .....