Before even heading out to Paris this morning, Lauren was in for a surprise. The previous morning we had noticed that the shower sprayed into the floor because the shower curtain was missing and one must hold the shower head bc the dock was missing. However, this morning was worse. While showering and trying to avoid soaking the floor, the shower head came off the hose and she was forced to finish showering as if she was using a garden hose. Needless to say, we moved rooms and have none of the previous problems. Once stepping outside, we were blessed with the infamous Paris rain, which has continued throughout the day. However, our trip was not put on hold. We started with the Arc de Triomphe and a walk to the Eiffel Tower, which continued to the Place de la Concorde and Grand Palais. We finished off with the Louvre. Now, I know we said the Musee d'Orsay was huge but nothing compared to this museum. There are 3 sections, each of these sections has 4 floors. And these sections are enormous! It is mentally impossible to look and take in all that they have to offer. The Mona Lisa wasn't quite what we expected, but the strict security was. Don't get us wrong; the painting is beautiful but is a normal sized painting of a normal, everyday women. The painting is alone on a wall, but the side walls are filled with other paintings of the same time period. Comparing the Mona Lisa to these paintings shows why it is famous. Also, Van Gogh was inspired and actually visited the Louvre and many of the same paintings as we did. Delacroix is one of the painters Van Gogh mentioned often in his early letters. Being in a room filled with mostly his paintings casts a gloomy and dark feel onto the observer, such as seen through Van Gogh's paintings. In addition, many of the painters painted blurred figures with minor details. This sheds some light onto the difficult time Van Gogh had trying to draw sketches and paintings of still-lifes and models.
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