VERA TESCHOW.CA
  • Home
  • About
    • Overview
    • Education & Diplomas
    • Consulting & PR
    • Teaching Experience
    • Workshop Facilitation
    • Volunteer Experience
    • Extra-Curricular Leadership
    • Writing
  • Learn
  • BLOG
  • Contact

Sunday "Morning" at the Louvre

3/10/2013

0 Comments

 
louvre
This morning's agenda included a visit to the Louvre, to seek out the famed Mona Lisa.   (I use the term "morning" loosely here; although we were up "late" by North American standards -- a jet-lag-induced 10 a.m. breakfast at the hotel -- the crowds at the museum when we arrived around 11:30 a.m. indicated that it was still morning... by the time we left at 2 p.m., there were far more people milling around and lined up than when we arrived.)

The first thing that struck me was the size of the building:  Clearly, the French take their art seriously; the place is HUGE!!

As we walked through the grounds, Alex remarked "We're walking through art!"

Yes indeed, "Art" was everywhere, from the design of the doorways and vistas to the giant, glass pyramids in the courtyard, to the handicapped and stroller elevator (more on that later)...
Even the management of the flow of people into the Louvre is well orchestrated; once inside the main entrance (accessible via security counter underneath the largest of the courtyard pyramids), one is greeted by a large, bright atrium.  Multiple ticket kiosks are located in various corners of the atrium.  A large information desk is located at the centre, immediately visible from both the elevators and staircase.  (It features information and maps in multiple languages; I helped myself to several for my students back home -- Chinese, Polish, Arabic Louvre maps made their way into my backpack.)

We also decided to splurge on a few Nintendo DS audio guides, which promised child-friendly tours of Egypt as well as a "Masters" tour which included the Mona Lisa.
The audio-guides turned out to be too much technology for this ludite, and I decided to stick with the well-marked signs to help me find and guide my 8-year-old twins and their dad to the well known work of the Italian master.
mona lisa crowd
We soon found the demure-looking lady.  Predictably, she was surrounded by a throng of people.

I find the work itself  underwhelming (I can't help but wonder why, in a museum with so many impressive pieces of art, do people flock in droves to a rather small painting of a woman's head?)  Don't get me wrong, I mean, it is geometrically a pleasing piece and all (did you know that her left eye is exactly centred on the canvas, for example, and that she was one of the first portraits without a "barrier prop", thus creating a more intimate feel with the viewer), but it is not -- in my opinion -- worth the rush past the vast body of works that surrounds it (both in Danen, and the other halls of the museum).

More interesting to me was the "caution, pickpockets" sign next to the famous work... of course petty thieves would do their best work in such a distracted crowd!

The largest painting  in the gallery is also nearby; it depicts the miracle of the water turned to wine at the cannanite wedding (though comissioned for the rectory of a monestary, the painting shows signs of having been painted by an artist of the upper class, as evidenced by the noble princes and their ladies to the left of the painting, for example, and the setting itself, which does not at all resemble the cananite country side!)

People-watching is perhaps the most interesting pastime at the Louvre -- the boys and I spent considerable time just sitting on a bench watching people go by, and see who's engaged vs who's just rushing through the museum so they can check it off their list!
Picture
Personally, my favourite piece that we saw today was a large stone angel.

I found the arch of her wings rather impressive, and was drawn to this piece; I stood looking at it for quite a long time.

The other neat thing was the snail shell-esque elevator surrounded by spiral staircase, in the main lobby.  Reserved for strollers and wheelchairs, it transports people up and down in the middle of spiral staircase on demand.

(Click on the photos below to enlarge.)

Once back outside, we took the obligatory "Look, I'm touching the top of the pyramid" shots... in fact, the museum appears to have provided standposts for people to do just that, and everywhere outside were tourists taking the same photo.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About Vera...

    Vera & her Sons, April 2021
    After writing for several teacher and multiple birth publications, including ETFO's Voice Magazine, Multiple Moments, and the Bulletwin, Vera turned her written attention to prolific blogging for some years, including BiB,  "Learn to Fly with Vera!"  and SMARTbansho .  In 2014, Homeschooling 4 was her travel blog in Argentina.  She now spends more time on her Instagram (@schalgzeug_usw)  than her blog (pictures are worth a thousand words?!) and moderates several Facebook groups in Canada and Mexico.

    LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING?? Consider sending a gift to support our Little Free Library and other projects: bit.ly/VeraList
    DISCLAIMER
    The views expressed on this blog are the views of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the perspectives of her family members or the position of her employer on the the issues she blogs about.  These posts are intended to share resources, document family life, and encourage critical thought on a variety of subjects.  They are not intended to cause harm to any individual or member of any group. By reading this blog and viewing this site, you agree to not hold Vera liable for any harm done by views expressed in this blog.
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Argentina 2013
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Cycling
    Family
    Flying
    Geocaching
    Honduras 2011
    Lakeshore
    Lgbtq
    Math Eyes
    Music
    Other Stuff
    Prince Edward Island
    Teaching And Learning
    Teaching-and-learning
    Travel

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2025
    November 2024
    June 2024
    December 2023
    August 2023
    August 2022
    March 2022
    January 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010

Vera C. Teschow, OCT, M.Ed., MOT
Toronto, ON & St Peter's Harbour, PE
www.verateschow.ca 2023
Photos from Sean MacEntee, Studio Paars, Bengt Nyman, zeevveez, GoodNCrazy, CJS*64, Accretion Disc, CharlesLam, Courtney Dirks, CJS*64 "Man with a camera", Accretion Disc, Bobolink, Ian Muttoo, BioDivLibrary, Alaskan Dude, IsabelleAcatauassu, runran, Transformer18, jglsongs, Create For Animal Rights, david_shankbone, Paul J Coles, foilman, Newport Geographic, Photo Everywhere, kevin dooley, Claudio , Alex Guibord, Tscherno, f_mafra, Terry Madeley, musee de l'horlogerie, BobMacInnes, wwarby, jonathangarcia, amboo who?, chimothy27, Elin B, cliff1066™, Grzegorz Łobiński, Rennett Stowe, Farhill, Phil Manker, Guitarfool5931, airguy1988, dierk schaefer, Rob Stemple, katerha, StockMonkeys.com, Ramotionblog, andrewk3715, charlywkarl, AJC1, rachel_titiriga, chaz jackson, haven't the slightest, paweesit