Monday, March 16th, 2015
Today we visited the Louvre. I could spend weeks exploring this museum. There is so much to see here, and all of it is very different. My favorite part was a marble courtyard filled with statues of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, with hardly anyone noticing the simple beauty of these works of art, mostly focusing on big name exhibits such as the Mona Lisa. I've always been fascinated by mythology, and it's interesting to see how other cultures view myths. I also really like the references to Roman mythology, such as the Champs du Mars, in the city because of its past under Roman rule. Something I found a little strange was the juxtaposition of the Louvre next to a modern shopping mall. In fact, you don't even have to step foot outside the world's most famous art museum to enter the mall, complete with food courts, Starbucks, and stores of every kind. Even the Starbucks was different than in America. There are far fewer options for drinks, fewer people staying to sit down and talk or work, and the coffee is stronger. Another oddity was having to pay a euro to use the bathroom. In America, I had never seen a fee being charged to use the bathroom. The bathrooms are also completely separate, versus the partially separate stalls we have in America. I found this to be a very sharp contrast to the usual lack of privacy Parisians tend to be comfortable with. Our next stop was the Madeleine. Again, I was amazed at how magnificent and historical buildings seem to pop up out of nowhere. I also loved the little shops around the church, dwarfed by its massive size and grandeur. Shops in Paris are very specialized.