Amusing Musée

Thanks to a crazy dream I had where I forgot to book my plane ticket to Prague from Paris, I woke up early and a bit nervous. I shook of the anxiety with a shot of espresso, and decided to use the time to my advantage. I was planning on going to the Louvre Musem today and if I head there now, I can beat the crowds. I took quiet metro ride to the world famous square and found it completely barren.

It was a slightly cloudy morning and the lighting was perfect for some really isolated photos of the beautiful palace. This square, about 3 blocks north of the river and in the geopgraphical center of Paris was the France’s governmental seat for hundreds of years (up until Versailles was built actually). It was kinda eerie being the only one here, save for a café owner washing off chairs in the distance. He was nice enough to serve me more coffee and a small breakfast at his place even though I could tell he was not really ready for customers. Afterward, I helped him set up his chairs facing the square to repay the favor. Not a word of English was spoken. Smiles, nods and index fingers can go a long way. Once I saw a small line finally forming, I headed over and waited an hour with some fellow tourists and chatted a while. In front of me was a family of 4 from Bend, OR who knew a lot about SLO and were just as joyously clueless about Parisian culture as I was. In back of me was a not-unattractive girl from Australia who was greatly interested in what was on my ipod:

"What'cha listening to?"
"Oh, CougarBait."
"Ya? Are they a new band from the States?"
"Yeah, they've been around for a while."
"Can I listen?"
(We split the earbuds, Rock out to Superhero from the beginning)
"Wow, they're good"
"Yeah, I've seen them in concert like 4 times."
"Wow! So you're like really into music?! Where have they played?"
"Some pretty big time venues, like.... Sweet Springs Music Fest...um....Creston Flats....you know? All the California HotSpots. I got a Ticketmaster GOLDMEMBER pass for my birthday, so I'm able to hit a ton of good stuff."
"That's awesome. Are they on iTunes?"
"They will be soon. Still going through licensing issues with the lawyers. But you know what......(fumble around in my bag, hand her the copy of CougarBait FRESH Hooks) I got this sampler when I caught them at the Warped Tour last month in Philly. It's yours."
........yadda yadda yadda...... more slammhogginess............

(for those unware, Cougarbait, www.freshhooks.net , is a semi-cover band that rocks the central coast HARD CORE. I'm pretty much a non-acting band manager/backup vocalizer/roadie/frontman but right now I'm trying to get their EuroTour '12 up and running)

Among the first people in, I decided to head, deep into the wings, directly to the Mona Lisa (so I could get that out of the way) and I was pleased to see there was only about 10 other people there before me. You cant get very close to it, but it was actually a little bit more impressive than I previously thought. Probably mainly due to the more-intimate-than-most viewing experience, and the fact that it was the first painting I’d seen that day. She is kinda small, though.

Next, I headed to the second most famous piece at the Louvre, the Venus de’Milo. Other than the young, probably still hungover, docent in the room, I was the only person viewing her for almost 5 minutes. She was truly impressive. Her ancient origins and hazy history add to the beauty as only speculation can describe her creation.

I gave the Louvre the full tour. All the galleries, all the floors, all the exhibits. Other than the VDM, my favorite pieces were the Mesopotamian artifacts (mainly due to their incomprehensible age) and the artistic renderings of the history of the Louvre itself. The latter exhibit displaying dozens of paintings dating to the late 1890’s and early 1900’s depicting the transformation of the building to an actual museum. Top-hatted Lords and elegant nobility overseeing the filling of the rooms with much of the same artifacts that I was face-to-face with minutes ago, gave me a real perspective on just how importance of this museums history. Although, I will say the Orsay was, overall, my more recommended collection.

After the Louvre, I decided to spend the rest of the day in Paris’ Jewish Quarter. Soo glad I did. The streets were adorned with Rose trees, delis, Jewish bookshops, synagogues, shtiebels, and kosher boulangeries (bakeries)and charcuteries (butchers), and tons of other Jewish establishments. The area was bustling with people of all ages enjoying the beautiful, though slightly cloudy, summer afternoon. While strolling around without a destination in mind, I quite literally ran into the Picasso Museum. P had told me it was a great collection of his work so I popped in. After the last 2 HUGE museums I had toured in the past days, It was kinda nice visiting a much quieter, quainter recently modernized building full of works from only 1 artist. Picasso is far more interesting than I had given him credit for. His abstract paintings are great, but nothing compared to his sculptures, reliefs, mosaics, sketches, advertisements and photography. I snapped a handful of photos before I was reprimanded in French by an extremely old woman. She might have been Picasso’s mom asking me for royalties. Apparently photography was not allowed although I couldn’t find any signs. There were some really hot girls walking around too. I ordered the Plat du’jour from the most authentic restaurant I could find and it was the best meal I’d had in Paris. For only 15euros, I had a huge kosher steak with tons of sides and a nice bottle of wine. The mustard and mayo in France is superb. I then headed back to my hotel to pack my life back up into my 2 bags. Leaving early tomorrow morning to meet P at the airport.

Rhone, here we come…