lourve-ing paris

So this is an Art History study abroad. As such, we spend a lot of time in cathedrals, churches, and museums, which I love.
This included five Louvre days. Days filled with disbelief,  skeptism, wonder, excitement, annoyance, but mostly, awe.

Let's talk about how we go to museums.
This is not a casual glance at a couple paintings.
This is our classroom lecture moved on-site, in front of the greatest artists there have ever been. We listen to our teacher lecture and take diligent notes. And sit down whenever possible. And try not to let fatigue hit us too early in the lecture.

We see all the best art, as I mentioned previously. And enjoy walking past art that the masses may find the most interesting, but we, in our art superiority complex that we've developed, snicker at the masses and look for the beautiful Tission on the opposite side of the Mona Lisa.

But we also join with the masses to celebrate the pieces that have touched people for centuries...or have been re-popularized in recent years.

But, to see these pieces up close, to see the brushwork, to see the individual colors...it's unreal.

And, we get to discover new favorite pieces that happen upon you so fast and so powerfully, you're carried away in a moment, standing before a piece in total awe, wondering how a person could craft such a work and convey such a power using paint.

and that is why I Louvre.