France Day 3

May 26, 2002

Today we did our own thing. No tours. Just us and a map.

The Louvre

This, in my opinion, is the museums of all museums. Maybe that's just because I got to see it. Or maybe because this holds the art to everything we ever learn about in grade school and art history class. To see these things in person is an overwhelming feeling. God has blessed people with special talents and I'm so glad to see some of the greatest pieces.

There was a huge crowd around this one. We weren't allowed to use a flash. This was the best photo I could get considering everything.

The Winged Goddess of Victory. http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/winged-victory-samothrace?selection=44909 190 BC. Can you believe that? I only wish I could see the whole thing. Still this is so beautiful. I took a ton of photos, but unfortunately a lot of the best paintings weren't allowed to be shot. It turns out the flash on a camera washes out the paintings.

This place is huge! I don't know how many hours we spent in there. We got lost somewhere around the Egyptian section of the museum. We weren't in a hurry to be anywhere so we just took our time and saw everything we could. There's so much history in this world there is no way to remember it all. I'm grateful for museums.

Chateau De Versailles

This is a place I didn't know much about until today. I remember hearing about the "Hall of Mirrors" but didn't really know it's significance. I walked through Marie-Antoinette's bedroom and King Louis the XIV's room. Nearly every room in this palace was painted by well know artists. Even the ceilings were done. I learned so much history today I actually wish I took notes.

Notre Dame

This was our final trip of the day and possibly the greatest so far. I've seen a few old churches in Mainz and Wiesbaden. This one is like the mother of all churches. First we waited in a short line to go inside. We had to wait for service to be over. Can you believe it? They're still having services! I love that!

Once inside I notice it feels unreal. It's huge inside. It's dark in some places, but the light coming through the stained glass windows that are about 50 feet up was magnificent. If you shout, I bet it would echo. Everything in here was real and true to how it would have been in the 1400's. Even the chandeliers are all candle-lit. Not that fake watch battery candle stuff either.

Off to the right was a glass display case. There was an old music book opened to a song. Naturally I tried to play it in my head. There was also an old pair of robes. I couldn't read who it belonged to, but I said to myself "I bet Jesus had robes like that."

There was also a statue of Joan of Arc in the corner. This girl has no doubt been the inspiration for all these female soldier type of movies. You go girl. No but seriously. She is incredible. I wonder if I've walked here today where she has walked.

We go outside and notice they're starting to allow people to climb the stairs to the top of the cathedral. Yes! Oh but no elevator. It felt like a million tiny steps. My legs hurt so bad when I got up there but I didn't care. The view was unbelievable. I hate to say, but it was better than the top of the Eiffel Tower. We even got to go in the room with the bell. The original bell. No Quasimodo though. We were alone up there part of the time. It's as if all of Paris was just ours. We could hear the wind and the birds but no people. This was the best day ever.