Europe Trip. Day 3: Paris, France

"Joie de vivre" is a French phrase to express a cheerful enjoyment of life, and that's how our hearts felt for this city. Yet, the feeling continued when we visited the majestic and iconic Louvre Museum that tells so many stories, from the arts collection to the building itself. It was initially built as a fortress in the early twelfth century and then became a palace during the reign of King Charles V in the fourteenth century. However, it turned out to be a museum during the French Revolution in the late 17th century.

The building itself is rather overwhelming, divided into three main sections: Sully, Richelieu, and Denon. Wiki: The Musée du Louvre contains about 460,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments. The Louvre exhibits sculptures, objects d'art, paintings, drawings, and archaeological finds. There’s something exceptional about seeing these famed creations up close and in person.

We began early to take the metro to Concorde (M12) station. Upon getting off the metro, we headed towards the Musée du Louvre entrance via the Jardin des Tuileries. Just for your info, Musée de l'Orangerie is located in this garden.

We took the subway before 8 in the morning.

We took the picture of Luxor Obelisk again

Jardin des Tuileries early in the morning

Lepak-lepak at the Octagonal Pond

Jules César Statue

Nearing to the Carrousel

Ku lihat hijau...

Eye of Paris by the Siene riverbank

Porte des Lions on the Denon wings

Carrousel Arc de Triomphe

By the time we reached the glass pyramid, there was a long line...

Fortunately, we skipped the line as we got the Museum Pass

Down to the lower ground from the entrance, we aimed to reach room 711 as early as possible to avoid the crowds. Located two levels up, we walked as fast as we could! By the time we reached there, we managed to squeeze in to get the best spot and swiftly took the pictures of the Mona Lisa portrait! All of sudden, Nu'man voiced up, 'kita berlari sebab nak tengok gambar nenek nie ke?' :P

We were going up the escalator actually

The Winged Victory of Samothrace at the first floor

Alaaa... dah ramai orang ke?

Her name was actually Lisa Gherardini.

Nasib baik boleh menyelit ke depan!

I guessed it was an A4-sized portrait.

We took a break for a while.

... and enjoying the painting on the ceiling

Venus de Milo @ Room 16, Ground Floor – Sully

Nu'man nak bawak balik, boleh tak?

Sleeping Hermaphroditus, by unknown artist

Invitation to the dance

A  headless woman

A bronze statue of Roman army

Macam patung tak?

Not a typical photo hot off Louvre with pyramid background

The inner courtyard exiting through the Colonnade

The Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois facing the Colonnade

Pit stop at Quai François Mitterrand

Souvenir and art shops along the riverbank of the Seine

Crossing the Pont Neuf to Ile de Cite

After crossing the bridge, we turned right to Square du Vert Galant and searched for the Henri IV statue, symbolizing the ‘gay old park.’ Then continued east, pausing at Place Dauphine before proceeding to La Conciergerie, formerly a prison but presently used mostly for law courts. Note that the entrance was a bit unnoticeable.

Henri IV statue at the Square du Vert Galant

These were private boats docked by the river

Small park called Place Dauphine

Fragment of the black marble table used during the sumptuous receptions held by the monarchy

The Hall of the Guards also call Grand Salle

Wealthy or influential prisoners usually got their own cells with a bed, desk, and materials for reading and writing. 

While the poorest would be confined to dark, damp, vermin-infested cells known as oubliettes

Wooden dinner table

The courtyard for women prisoners

We headed east along Rue de Lutece, reaching the small market of flowers called Marché aux Fleurs—Reine Elisabeth II.

Cantik nya...

Our next stop was the most dramatic Notre-Dame. We planned to visit the cathedral itself but the queue was quite long so we just had free time in front of the buildings. Centre Pompidou was another attraction that we skipped that day. I guess our much experience at the Louvre made us skip it. Anyway, it's about 20-minute walk from Notre-Dame.

Approaching the cathedral

In front of a medieval Catholic cathedral

A long queue for the Notre-Dame as well

We gave it a try to the highly positive reviews through googling

After simple lunched, we walked for another 10 minutes to the Hotel de Ville, which has been the seat of the Paris City Council since 1357. The current building, with a neo-Renaissance style, was built by architects Théodore Ballu and Edouard Deperthes.