So. Much. To. See.
Posted by Ashley | | Posted On Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 3:17 PM
Day 2 at the Louvre.
We spent over five hours in the museum and STILL barely seemed to have scratched the surface. We actually did really well in terms of hitting the big name artists but every time we turned a corner we were facing another wall of seemingly countless "lesser" paintings...so many beautiful paintings, yet we only spend time really studying a handful. I found myself wondering how many of those "nameless pieces" (meaning simply the pieces that we don't take time to study because they are not in the canonical survey of art history) would take my breathe away if I had the time to stop and really examine them. Art is so wonderful but its study is also sadly limited due to time and access.
I took some time to observe the French school children being given tours in the museum and found it neat that the guides would actually have the kids sit in front of a painting in order to give it a proper amount of study time. It was rather heartening to see how engaged a lot of the students were, their little hands waving frantically in the arm to ask a question or to point at a specific detail in the work. I wonder how many of them know how lucky they are to have so much art, so much history right at their finger tips like that.
James taught me (well...all of us) a simple but powerful lesson today. He pointed out to us "the woman in yellow" who was busily scurrying around the gallery taking photos of every single piece, but never stopping longer than to snap that picture, not taking any time to look at the piece without a camera lens between her eye and the paint. James had first noticed her because she had jostled several of us students in an attempt to get to the front to take the picture and move on. As we watched her moving insistently forward, he simply said, "Do not be someone who sees but does not observe. Experiencing is so much more important than recording in this instance." I thought that was powerful.
Tonight we had our last official group dinner (we will have another dessert night but no more full meals :( Drat!). It was delicious! I have been what I consider to be "extra brave" in terms of the food I have tried during this program...and tonight I tried escargot (a.k.a. snails). It actually wasn't too bad. This place prepares them really nicely and I found that they had a pretty good flavor. It was the rubbery texture that was more off-putting than anything else. I don't think I would go out of my way to have it again but it wasn't awful :)
After dinner (and dessert...my first ever crème brûlée ever! So yummy!), Katie and Chelsea and I got some crepes (those are going to be the death of me) and then went to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up. We lucked out and actually also got to watch it shimmer with all the flashing lights (which, as I understand, only happens on the hour). It was really pretty! I actually do find that area really romantic (again this surprised me, I had still considered it pretty cliché but my mind was changed tonight).
While that sounds pretty chill, it was a long day and I am tuckered out. Luckily classes start late tomorrow, so I can sleep in a bit. We are only visiting one museum and then have the rest of the day off. I was originally going to go to Euro-Disney but I have offered to babysit Heather's kids for the evening so her and Kevin can have a date night before they separate for 3+ weeks. Kevin and the kids go home on Saturday but Heather will be staying in France to do research. I adore those kids, so I don't feel like it is a sacrifice on my part at all. I also was not completely convinced I wanted to spend money on Disneyland Paris unless I had the FULL day to enjoy it. Even 5+ hours just wouldn't justify how much money it would cost. Plus...I am about to go live at Disney World which is the best of all the pals anyway ;) I am thinking of using the money I will save to take a day trip to Cardiff when we have our full free day in London...maybe hit the Doctor Who museum...maybe. We will see.
Oh! But a short side story: I also feel obligated to be with George tomorrow night because of what Heather told me this morning. She pulled me aside at breakfast to tell me that George was pretty sad last night and kept lamenting, "This will be my last day with Ashley in Paris!" Melt my heart, will ya?! He technically still has all of tomorrow, but man, I have worked hard to be that kid's favorite and I plan on pushing through to the very end! If that means sacrificing my Friday night and Disneyland Paris...so be it! :D
We spent over five hours in the museum and STILL barely seemed to have scratched the surface. We actually did really well in terms of hitting the big name artists but every time we turned a corner we were facing another wall of seemingly countless "lesser" paintings...so many beautiful paintings, yet we only spend time really studying a handful. I found myself wondering how many of those "nameless pieces" (meaning simply the pieces that we don't take time to study because they are not in the canonical survey of art history) would take my breathe away if I had the time to stop and really examine them. Art is so wonderful but its study is also sadly limited due to time and access.
I took some time to observe the French school children being given tours in the museum and found it neat that the guides would actually have the kids sit in front of a painting in order to give it a proper amount of study time. It was rather heartening to see how engaged a lot of the students were, their little hands waving frantically in the arm to ask a question or to point at a specific detail in the work. I wonder how many of them know how lucky they are to have so much art, so much history right at their finger tips like that.
James taught me (well...all of us) a simple but powerful lesson today. He pointed out to us "the woman in yellow" who was busily scurrying around the gallery taking photos of every single piece, but never stopping longer than to snap that picture, not taking any time to look at the piece without a camera lens between her eye and the paint. James had first noticed her because she had jostled several of us students in an attempt to get to the front to take the picture and move on. As we watched her moving insistently forward, he simply said, "Do not be someone who sees but does not observe. Experiencing is so much more important than recording in this instance." I thought that was powerful.
Tonight we had our last official group dinner (we will have another dessert night but no more full meals :( Drat!). It was delicious! I have been what I consider to be "extra brave" in terms of the food I have tried during this program...and tonight I tried escargot (a.k.a. snails). It actually wasn't too bad. This place prepares them really nicely and I found that they had a pretty good flavor. It was the rubbery texture that was more off-putting than anything else. I don't think I would go out of my way to have it again but it wasn't awful :)
After dinner (and dessert...my first ever crème brûlée ever! So yummy!), Katie and Chelsea and I got some crepes (those are going to be the death of me) and then went to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up. We lucked out and actually also got to watch it shimmer with all the flashing lights (which, as I understand, only happens on the hour). It was really pretty! I actually do find that area really romantic (again this surprised me, I had still considered it pretty cliché but my mind was changed tonight).
While that sounds pretty chill, it was a long day and I am tuckered out. Luckily classes start late tomorrow, so I can sleep in a bit. We are only visiting one museum and then have the rest of the day off. I was originally going to go to Euro-Disney but I have offered to babysit Heather's kids for the evening so her and Kevin can have a date night before they separate for 3+ weeks. Kevin and the kids go home on Saturday but Heather will be staying in France to do research. I adore those kids, so I don't feel like it is a sacrifice on my part at all. I also was not completely convinced I wanted to spend money on Disneyland Paris unless I had the FULL day to enjoy it. Even 5+ hours just wouldn't justify how much money it would cost. Plus...I am about to go live at Disney World which is the best of all the pals anyway ;) I am thinking of using the money I will save to take a day trip to Cardiff when we have our full free day in London...maybe hit the Doctor Who museum...maybe. We will see.
Oh! But a short side story: I also feel obligated to be with George tomorrow night because of what Heather told me this morning. She pulled me aside at breakfast to tell me that George was pretty sad last night and kept lamenting, "This will be my last day with Ashley in Paris!" Melt my heart, will ya?! He technically still has all of tomorrow, but man, I have worked hard to be that kid's favorite and I plan on pushing through to the very end! If that means sacrificing my Friday night and Disneyland Paris...so be it! :D
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Escargot? I say escar-stop. (Get it?) Like eating erasers in garlic sauce, imho. I don't like the texture either, which is funny, because I love clams and it's kind of the same texture. Of course, I really only like chopped or realy small clams. The escargot I had was pretty big and that was very off putting to me. And that's my take on eating snails. You're welcome.