The Garnier Opera vs The Pompidou Nuthouse

In all honesty, I end up in Opera Quarter all because of Galleries La Fayette. See, I recently develop the fondness for LongChamp bags. To be in Paris simply means that I have to search the city upside down to get it. Besides the fact that it is at least half off compared to the price we have to pay in Asia, the most thrill comes from the opportunity to say, "I got it in Paris" ... so worth it. So before I left for Paris, I went to a few purse blog sites to check out where I should go and most of the people suggest to go to La Fayette as besides LongChamp, I can also find other French labels there. So, that's the story how I found myself in Opera Quarter.

Opera Quarter bustles with shoppers, sight seers, theatre goers as well as the local Parisians. Apparently this area is also a chic business address in Paris.

As a tourist, the most important sight which I happened to come face-to-face to is the Opera National de Paris Garnier. This is The Opera behind the story of the 'Phantom of the Opera'. I did not have the opportunity to catch a play here. But I did managed to capture some beautiful shots of this 1800s magnificient building. Pictures says it all.

So after shopping and taking pictures around Opera Garnier, the only thing left to do is to find a corner cafe, order a hot chocolat and just sit there and watch Paris move before us.

Viennese Chocolat in winter Paris

See Paris passing by before us

Just next to Tuileries and Opera Quarter is an area called Beaubourg. I came here to visit the Centre Pompidou. Centre Pompidou is an avant-garde assembly of vast pipes, ducts and cables. It is like a building turned inside out.

Front facade of Centre Pompidou

The Centre Pompidou houses the Musee National d'Art Moderne besides a huge art library. If you are tired of the centuries old masterpiece or the Renaissance art, then this museum will present a refreshing genre of modern art. It represent the schools of Fauvism, Cubism and Surrealism. To be honest, I tried to understand the art but I just couldn't.  So, here are a few of the art I happened to catch a shot.

Hmmm, I think my 6 year-old son will be able to do this 'art'. Can't understand. Sorry.

Just a piece of navy blue canvas ... I kid you not.

Warhol art. This art has of course turned mainstream now.

A 3-D room with colour plastic pieces to create the effect. 

A baby image inside the glass / ice cube.

Actually this museum is huge with apparently 50,000 arts but we gave up after walking through the Video Vintage section. There are about 12 lounges with 4 black and white tv in each lounge. The televisions showcase the video 'art' that I felt disgusted and unsettling after watching 2 or 3. I think there's a thin line between an Artist and a Nutcase. Although I can understand that a true artist is always a little bit different from  non-artist but the art shown in this section is short of those scene you can see in a mental institution. I really can't find a reason and I also refuse to appreciate it.



Location : Opera Quarter & Beaubourg, Paris, France
Next, Champs-Élysées


 

Musee du Louvre

The Louvre. To start off with, you have no idea how huge the entire museum is until you do a walk-around the complex.

I couldn't find any information about the exact size of it, but I did found out that it was first constructed in 1100s as a fortress by King Philippe and has stayed probably as palace until it is being transformed into the world's greatest museum.

Hence the experience of visiting The Louvre starts from outside. The architecture of the complex is just so magnificent.

Of course the latest addition to the museum is this famous glass pyramid which has since become even more famous after the best seller Da Vinci Code uses it as part of the mystery in the book. According to the fiction, 666 pieces of glass are used to build this pyramid, sounded devil or Mansonry (apparently it is not true, its 673). The glass pyramid becomes the official main entrance to the museum.

Paris is probably one of the most visited city in the world. With so many tourists in the city and being one of the main itinerary by everyone who came to Paris, you can imagine the crowds and queues to go into The Louvre. So, if you have every intention to come back for second day or to visit other museums in the city, the first thing you need to get is this 'Paris Museum Pass'. This pass will enable you to visit most of the museums in the city and MOST important of all, it gets you to the front of every queue in all museums. They have 2 day pass and 4 day pass. GET IT!

Inside the glass pyramid

And suddenly, I feel like a VIP! You know when you are given priority to cut few hundred peoples in front of you and walk right in! So worth it!

So before you visit The Louvre, you gotta do some homework. Why? Because as mentioned this museum is so, so, so huge. It is so huge that you do not know where to begin really and it is virtually impossible for you to cover the museum. Not in one day, not in two days and I think maybe not even in a week. So, you have to find like 10 - 20 pieces of art you want to see and work on the floor plan to find them.

The most important and famous art in the museum which a five year-old will probably have heard of it too is none other than Mona Lisa. Well, for one, you will definitely find this one because there is banner everywhere in the museum like this pointing towards the art. Maybe the guard is so tired of people asking them, "Hey, where is this Mona Lisa gal?"

So, anyway, Mona Lisa is located on the 1st Floor of the Denon Wing in Room 6. Although, there is banners guiding you around to look for Mona Lisa, you still need a floor plan. And if you think you can try your luck, look at the exhibition hall or as they called it Salon. There is literary thousands and thousands of exhibits in The Louvre.

And finally, there it is, the Mona Lisa! The masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci of a Florentine lady by the name of La Gioconda. Frankly, the painting is so famous that there is no way you get to appreciate it like any other art. It is more like, "Hey, there it is, the Mona Lisa, take a picture, OK let's go". This small little oil canvas is protected by at least 2 layers of glass that will ensure it will not be ruin by air, by vapour, by flash lights and be there forever to be admired by millions. So smile away La Gioconda, you're probably the most famous lady on earth.

Apart from Mona Lisa, every single person will have its own preference as to what kind of art they can appreciate. So, below are the ones that I personally have spend a few quick minutes each to learn about its artist, its history and something that can touch that little shread of 'art-appreciation' that I have in me.

Paintings

The wedding feast at Cana (1563)
Hallo, its the piece of art that is shrouded by so much mysteries in the Da Vinci Code. The painting that depicts the first miracle that Jesus perform. So, is that Mary next to Jesus or somebody else?

The coronation of the Emperor Napolean I (1808)
Well, who doesn't know Napolean crowned himself King of France. So obviously this painting will become a  hot item. Apparently the artist is very kind to have painted Napolean so tall and handsome.

La Grande Odalisque (1814)
This distorted body of a lady still makes it so powerfully seductive.

The oath of the Horatii (1784)
The strong men and the despair women

The raft of the Medusa (1819)
This art is so 'dark', I can feel the victim's desperation.

Liberty leading the people (1830)
Another historical moment of France, the 1830 revolution. This painting is the first that depicts woman nudity in a  liberating manner. Not the smooth and clean seductive tone, but the women power tone. 

Sculptures

The Winged Victory of Samothrace (circa 190BC)
Although the head did not survive, the sculpture still stand proud

Venus de Milo, 100BC
The Greek goddess of love

Praxiteles (circa 360BC)
The sculptor is the first person to create female nudity in the form of aphrodites

Captive / Slave (Michelangelo 1515)

Saint Mary Magdalen (1520)
Her original home was in a convent. Depicting Mary in nude is so daring but yet it exudes a kind of beauty that is not erotic to me.

There are two courtyards that has natural lights in The Louvre that features sculptures that is so priceless. I just couldn't name them all.

Winged Bull with human head (circa 721BC)
Assyrian Art ... how did it end up in France you think?

The Great Sphinx
Guardian of the temple of Amun-Ra, is one of the largest outside Egypt

Code of Hammurabi (1792 BC)
Apparently this is one of the oldest antiquities ever found.

Tomb of Philippe Pot (1500s)
It just gives me goose bumps looking at it.

Others

Napolean III apartment
Not a common exhibits in any museums but gives me a great insights into how a king lives

An unbelievably huge piece of stained glass art. Probably rescued from a cathedral.

I guess by now you probably have guessed that I'm such a huge fan of Da Vinci Code right? Well, I did not followed the Da Vinci Tour or anything but it just gives me that extra jolt of excitement to be able to see with my own eyes those clues and buildings that was being featured in the novel.

So here is one ... ha, the signs that you can find inside The Louvre and the vicinity. It is the Rose Line that Langdon has been following all around Paris. So I found one!

I, of course found Mona Lisa (who couldn't anyway) but guess what? The other artwork that was featured in the novel such as The Virgin of the Rocks, The Death of the Virgin were taken out. See this sign! You mean I come all the way to Paris and couldn't see this painting? Cest la vie ... my luck.

But of course, I'll never leave The Louvre or Paris before I found this! The Inverted Pyramid that supposedly pointed to the resting place of Mary Magdalene. Ahhh ... my quest is fulfilled.

Location : The Louvre, Paris, France

Next, The Garnier Opera vs The Pompidou Nuthouse