Paris!

Paris: the city of love and lights. It took me longer to warm up to this place, but by the end of the 2 1/2 weeks I fell in love. It is a beautiful city, full of beautiful sites and beautiful people. Not everyone is really all that nice to us Americans, but I really did meet some sweet people along the way, and I tried my best to speak some French, and let me tell you it is not easy. :)

I saw so many things...the churches of Notre Dame, Chartres, St. Denis and Sacre Coeur. I went to the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Rodin Museum and so many more to enjoy the masterpieces of so many great artists.I walked below the Eiffel Tower, along the Seine and up to Montmartre. I walked the places and saw the houses where many great artists, such as Van Gogh lived. I ate delicious food...and yes I had at least one crepe a day, if not two :)

It was wonderful! I hope to go back to France one day and see Normandy and Southern France. I hear its beautiful. Ah I miss it already. I promise I'll stop talking about this trip soon. Just one more post about Madrid. ;)

Sometimes a photograph can't capture Beauty.

So I just have to complain. Just a little bit. And I might feel a little better.

One day, well, make that four days in a row, I went to the Louvre in Paris, France. It is one of the best and well-known art museums in the world. There are hundreds upon hundreds of great masterpieces. Some of my favorites were in the great hall of the grand works by artists such as David, Gericault and Delacroix. For many years I have studied and looked at these paintings on a computer or projector screen, only wishing to be able to see them in person. 

It happened. I finally did. I noticed things I had never noticed before. The works were lighter. The colors were more brilliant in person. But to my dismay, there were groups of people, who did not, or better yet, WOULD not take the precious time to stop, look, observe and admire the works. Rather they wouldn't even take a glance as they snapped a photograph of the work, not even looking to see if they captured it at the right angle. I seriously could not believe what I saw! The sad thing is they will never realize what they missed, and I will. 

It's just not the same.