Today yet another late start! Well, I am on holidays!!! Headed to the post office first to post some t-shirts, souveneirs and paperwork home because it is much cheaper from France than London. It costs 46 Euro for a 7kg box whereas in London it cost me 76 pounds to post home less than 4kg!
Today's first stop was the Musee de l'Armee to see the tomb of Napolean. I have to say that I have never been interested in the part of French history after the French Revolution, but I am in Paris and he is a significant character in the history of this country and I feel I have ignored him for too long. Well not anymore, yesterday I bought a Napolean christmas decoration at the Arc de Triomphe and today I get to meet the man...kind of!! Napolean's tomb is located in the central crypt of the Eglise du Dome Church at the Hotel des Invalides. Napolean died on the 5th May 1821 on the island of St Helena, where he had been in exile since 1815. In 1840 his remains were exhumed and brought to Paris, under the instructions of Louis- Phillipe who demanded that the English return the emperor to French soil. A state funeral was held and the remains laid to rest in St Jeromes Chapel. The remains were moved in 1861 when the tomb was completed. The tomb is made from red porphyry which is placed on a green granite base. A statue of the emperor, bearing the imperial emblems, is located at the back of the crypt. In 1842 the architect Visconti had to redesign the church's high altar to accomodate the tomb. The whole thing is really quite grand...and here I thought Marie-Therese of Austria's coffin was something!!!
Next it was off to the Musee de l'Orangerie. This art gallery contains impressionist and post impressionist paintings and is the permanent home for eight Water Lilies murals by Claude Monet. It also contains work by Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso and Renoir among others. The Water Lilies were by far my favourite in this museum, the colours were so peaceful and tranquil and you really are transported to his garden at Giverny when you sit and look at them.
I chose to go to the Louvre today because it's Friday and on Friday the museum is open until 10pm. The Louvre is one of the largest palaces in the world and, as the former residence of the kings of France, one of the most illustrious. It houses a magnificent collection of ancient and Western art. It has become the globes most visited museum and contains 35,000 pieces of artwork. The Louvre's permanent collection includes masterpieces by the European masters of Da Vinci, Delacroix and Rubens and Greco-Roman, Egyptian and Islamic arts collections. I was able to wander through here for hours!!! As the night went on it became quieter in the museum and sometimes I was the only person in a room, it felt I had the palace all to myself. As I wandered through the vast collection of sculptures, I began to appreciate even more the genius of Michelangelo. I have seen so many sculptures both on this trip and previous trips, but as I walked around the Louvre tonight, they all seemed so ordinary and lacking detail. That is what I have come to appreciate about Michelangelo's Madonna and Child in Brussels, Pieta in Rome and the magnificent David in Florence, the detail. His work clearly defines the muscles and features of the human body, as I said...genius! Napolean III's apartments are also on display...talk about extravagant!!! The Mona Lisa had her fair share of visitors again today although not as busy as earlier in the week. As well as exploring new areas of the museum I did revisit some of the highlights that I visited earlier in the week. I headed home exhausted!!! So much walking, my feet are starting to suffer. Need to rest up as tomorrow I am off to spend the whole day at Versailles.
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