PARIS - AT THE LOUVRE - JUNE 29 - 2010

            PARIS & THE LOUVRE
                      June 29, 2010

True to my promise to take every grandchild to Paris and Lourdes as a gift for graduating from Grade VIII, I took Michael, the honoree, to the fascinating City of Light last June. Christian who has excelled in playing the piano deserved a reward so that he came with us along with my son, Bobby and Carla. In June 2003, Diana, my first grandchild, graduated Valedictorian at the Holy Spirit Catholic School in Fremont, California. We both joined a 16-day tour of France, Portugal and Spain. Last year, I took Joshua and Christina, both Grade VIII graduates from St. Ignatius Catholic School and Holy Spirit Catholic School, respectively, to Paris, Lourdes and Lisiuex, France. Tiffany joined us since she won awards in Gymnastics. Can you imagine a 78-year old woman roaming the streets of Paris with three children (12,13 and 14-year old) amid the teeming crowd of tourists, locals, gypsies, bag-snatchers, thieves, gaukers, etc.? To think that we often made use of the Metro (subway) as our means of transport in our visits to the most known tourist attractions in the city. Truly, there is a God Who takes care of us !

The visit to the Louvre is a must for any tourist in Paris since it has one of the most extensive art collections in the world. It is said that if one is to look at a painting, sculpture or any art form just for a few seconds (a studied glance), it would take seven months to view everything at the Louvre. Among its treasures is the famous Mona Lisa with her enigmatic smile painted by Leonardo da Vinci, the Venus de Milo and the sculptured Winged Victory of Samothrace from the 1600's. Several collections of paintings from acclaimed artists, Rembrandt, Reubens,
Van Gogh, Matisse, Dali, to name a few, adorn its walls. Egyptian, Italian and art from many countries abound in many rooms of the Louvre, a repository of man's limitless creativity.

The attached picture was taken inside the Glass Pyramid of the Louvre which was designed by Mei Pei and constructed in the more recent 1900's. The Louvre was originally built as a palace by one of France's early kings, King Louis IX. Succeeding members of his dynasty continued to add major art collections and consequently enlarged the palace so that now it occupies enough land space to cover a whole town. It is that huge

I have visited the Louvre for a number of times so that I decided to let Bobby, Carla, Michael and Christian to go about the place principally to view the Mona Lisa and the painting of the Wedding Feast of Cana which is acknowledged as the biggest painting in the Louvre occupying a long wide wall from top to bottom. It took seven years to finish and hangs right in front of the original Mona Lisa across the hall. Besides, I was so drained from the daily hectic itinerary we had been following.

The Glass Pyramid is in the courtyard framed by a huge pond with the dancing waters of several fountains. It houses the receiving and exiting area of musuem visitors. Hence, it is a proverbial beehive! Low rectangular platforms which can serve both as table and bench line some walls. I espied one such platform where a woman was lying down asleep. I was emboldened to follow suit despite the crowd in unstoppable movement around. I felt secure in my anonymity!

As God willed it, I saw a platform undisturbed by any occupant seemingly saying, "This one is for you!" God knew I needed to replenish my energy! I tried to lay flat decently and proper making sure that I wound my purse handles around my arm close to my chest. Then I was off to Dreamland - right at the Louvre! After almost two hours, Michael and Christian woke me up. I opened my eyes and saw the backs of a row of people sitting around me. Feeling so refreshed after the much-needed nap, I just smiled with the funny thought that now I can honestly say,"

" I slept at the Louvre!"