The Louvre

The Louvre was originally built as a fortess in the 12th century and housed many kings and monarchs. At the time of the French Revolution, the palace became a place for the national art collection. By 1889, and after new palace construction and large acquisitions of art, The Louve became solely a museum for art.

The Louvre Pyramid was built in 1989, at the bicentennial of the Revolution. We entered the museum here by taking an escalator inside the Pyramid to the lower level.

Art in the Louvre was breathtaking.

The palace itself was amazing, like the ceiling of this room. And, of coarse, each room was full with  overwhelming, collections of artworks.

There was a lot to see. Sophia decided to choose certain pieces and spend her time sketching them,

 

while Josephine roamed from room to room with a camera. Josephine discovered all kinds of beautiful women in paintings, including the crowning of this Josephine, and
                                           


 these two, twin-like sisters!



Napoleon is all over the Louvre, and special Napoleon "apartment" rooms have retained their original stuccos and elegant furnishings of gold, bronze, silk and velvet.  We wanted to stay here for tea, dinner or to just write a postcard!

Sophia and Josephine thought they might race these two to the finish line.

The finish line for all of us was the wonderful book shop, where Josephine read aloud from a few favorites.

By the end of our days, it was dark, snowy and cold in Paris, just like it was here outside the Musee d' Orsay, making it all the more special to have warm and beautiful places like the museums to spend our hours in Paris.