[July 2/3]
[July 4/5] [July 6/7]
July 6 ...
- Musee du Louvre
The Musée du Louvre, one of the world's largest
museums, is housed in the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which began as a
fortress built in the late 12th century under Philip II. In 1682,
Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the
Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection. During the
French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be
used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces. The museum opened on
10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the
works being royal and confiscated church property. Today, Nearly 35,000
objects from prehistory to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of
60,600 square metres.
Mona Lisa is definitely one of the most popular collections in the museum.
It is put behind protective glass, wood frame and rail, and attracts a huge
crowd around it all the time. We spent almost a full day (10:30AM --
4:30PM) in the museum, but only a portion of famous collections. Iris
was complaining her feet was hurt and had to find a seat after every few
steps.
- Seine Cruise
It was a good way to relax after a full day of walk
in the Louvre. The scenery along the Seine was good and it was a nice way to
see Paris especially we used Metro to travel underground most of time.
The boat ride last for about 1 hour starting from Point-Neuf on Ile de la Cite
to the Eiffel Tower.
- Evening at Seine and Louvre
July 7 ...
- Chateau de Versailles
Versailles, some 20 kilometers southwest of the
French capital, is a suburb of Paris. The
court of Versailles was the center of political power in France from 1682,
when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return
to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution.
Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the
system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. The palace has 700 rooms,
2153 window, 67 staircases, and was home to 10,000 courtiers and servants.
The gardens, situated to the west of the palace, cover some 800 hectares of
land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French Garden style perfected
here by André Le Nôtre on the same grand scale as the palace itself.
The Next Stop ...
On the last day in Paris (July 8), we left our apartment
very early (before 5AM) to catch our flight to London to our next stop of our
trip: Tanzania, an African Safari!!!
[July 2/3]
[July 4/5] [July 6/7]
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