2013

Paris, France (visited in 2013)

Ahh, the beautiful and breathtaking Paris! Out of all of the places I have visited, Paris is by far the most beautiful. Unlike some cities, Paris is exactly how you would imagine it: streets of gold, magnificent and dazzling architecture, glamorous shopping, and tiny little coffee shops that line every street corner. There is a reason that one of Paris’s nicknames is the “City of Love” and it is because you instantly fall in love with the city from the first moment you set your eyes on it. If Paris doesn’t make you fall in love, I don’t think anything will. When you are in Paris, you cannot help but smile. There is so much to talk about when it comes to “The City of Light”: the iconic Eiffel Tower, the glorious Notre Dame de Paris, the artistically enriched Louvre, and many, many more and if I talked about them all extensively, this post would take hours to read. So, I have decided to post pictures of all of these places, but I want to focus mostly on the history of the Louvre to give you a tiny taste of some of Paris’s culture.

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(The Eiffel Tower)

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(One of the views from the top of the Eiffel Tower)

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(Another view from the top of the Eiffel Tower)

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(Looking up from underneath the Eiffel Tower)

The History of the Louvre: *

The Louvre was originally created during the Middle Ages (approximately in 1190) by Philippe Auguste in an effort to erect a fortified enclosure to protect Paris.
It was a grand display of the king’s power and authority before he left Paris to fight in the Crusades.
Therefore, the Louvre was first created to be a castle. It was protected by a moat and held circular defensive towers on its sides and corners. In the center, the main tower was located and was surrounded by its own moat.
This “castle” was not a home for the royal family, but rather a garrison fortress.
As time passed, the Louvre became less of a defensive site and more of a royal residency as traveling French kings began to stay in the structure more often, particularly during the Hundred Years’ War.
The change from a fortress to a residency and, finally, a museum began to occur under the reign of Francis I (r. 1515-47) after the defeat of the military at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. By the end of his time in power, the king decided to have the Louvre rebuilt, but this did not occur until Henri II’s reign (r. 1547-59).

*Checked by: http://www.louvre.fr/en/histoirelouvres/history-louvre/periode-2

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(The outside of the Louvre)

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(The inverted pyramid inside the Louvre)

Protecting the Louvre During WWII: **

Starting in 1938, the threat of war urged France to have a large-scale evacuation of its public art collections. The famous Mona Lisa was removed from the Louvre on August 28, 1939 and by the end of the day on September 3, almost all of the precious art pieces were removed. The Mona Lisa was moved 5 times during the war before being safely brought back! During WWII, the Louvre was still a palace and Paris experienced one of the longest occupations in its history and the damage of war was evident in destroyed gardens and bomb damage.

**Checked by: http://twistedsifter.com/2013/05/louvre-and-mona-lisa-world-war-2/

Some of the Featured Masterpieces: ***

The Louvre is a 60,000-square-meter exhibition that is home to around 30,000 pieces of art. The Louvre is divided into three main sections: the Denon, the Richelieu, and the Sully wings. Each wing features over 70 rooms in addition to numerous halls that are filled with sculptures. With this much art, it is impossible to see every piece in a day or even in an entire week! However, I have researched and created an “essential checklist” to help you navigate and get the most out of your visit to the Louvre.

The Top Piece: This, of course, is the famous smiling lady: Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (located in Denon Wing, Room 6). This area is always packed with people so don’t expect to be able to see it too close. (P.S. it is a lot smaller than you would imagine it) but it is still an incredible experience!
Les Noces de Cana by Paolo Veronese or The Wedding Feast at Cana (Denon Wing, Room 6). This painting depicts the biblical story narrated by John the Apostle who describes the wedding feast in which Jesus turns water into wine.

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Venus de Milo (Sully Wing, Room 7). This statue is also known as Aphrodite (The goddess of love and beauty) and represents the Greek view of ideal beauty. As you can see, her arms were broken off and are still missing but many art historians believe she may have originally been holding an apple, a crown, or a mirror.

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Victoire de Samothrace (Denon Wing, Daru Staircase). The Goddess of Victory (Nike) stands on the prow of a ship in strong winds and the sculpture is praised for its sense of movement and accuracy. The goddess appears to be drenched in water but the blowing effect of her gown and her wings gives the work a sense of realism. (P.S. the sports company Nike was inspired by the goddess of victory!)

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The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David (Denon Wing, Room 75). Napoleon commissioned this painting to document his coronation. Unlike other kings, Napoleon faces the congregation rather than the Pope, which made a statement of his independence from the religious church.

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These are just a few examples of the thousands of masterpieces that the the Louvre holds. I hope you enjoyed your initial taste of some of the beauty of the artwork in Paris.

*** Artistic facts checked by: http://www.planetware.com/paris/louvre-f-p-l.htm

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(Notre Dame de Paris)

Literary Recommendations:

For this post’s literary recommendations section, I want to offer you a wide range of literature that I hope will help you acquire a greater appreciation of some of the artwork in the Louvre and for Paris itself. Since much of the art and sculptures in the Louvre center around Biblical stories and Greek mythology, I recommend that you check out some of the stories of Jesus in the Gospels of the Holy Bible and some the countless stories of the Greek gods and goddesses, particularly Aphrodite since she was featured in this post. Some of the other Biblical and Greek characters seen in the Louvre are David (Biblical), the hunting goddess Artemis (Greek), John the Baptist (Biblical), and the powerful god Zeus (Greek).

If you are interested in some of the most influential and popular works of French literature, I suggest you pick up a copy of Les Miserables or The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, The Count of Monte Cristo or The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas, or one of my favorites, The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux.

I hope you all have enjoyed this little sneak peak into the beauty and history of Paris, France, particularly the Louvre. I highly recommend taking a trip to Paris to experience some of the immensely rich history and culture that the city has to share. In the meantime, pick up some of these books and dive right into the culture today! Have a wonderful day, my traveling friends!

-The Traveling Brunette

**** All pictures are taken by me

The Colosseum in Rome, Italy (visited in 2013)

Ever since I first heard about the Ancient Romans, Greek/Roman mythology, and the gladiators, I have always been fascinated with Rome. Being an avid history buff, it was always a dream of mine to visit one of the most historic cities in the world and in 2013, my dream became a reality. Although the Colosseum was the home of Roman cruelty, it is still a glorious monument of ancient history. Stepping into the Colosseum is like stepping back through time. You are instantly engulfed in thousands of years of history and your mind tries to wrap itself around the fact that the very ground that you are stepping on has been there for centuries. Even though the monument has fallen into ruin (now only 1/3 of the original structure remains), it still stands as one of the most beautiful and imposing sights in Europe. In the entrance of the Colosseum, a cross stands tall and reminds you of the horrific persecution that early Christians faced in ancient Rome. This magnificent and humbling sight reminds you just how big the world really is.

The Beginning:

The Colosseum is officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater.
It was commissioned around A.D. 70-72 by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty. It was meant to be a gift for the Roman people.
In A.D. 80, the Colosseum was opened by Vespasian’s son, Titus.
It was built with 80 arched entrances allowing easy access to 55,000 spectators, who were seated according to rank.
Just outside the Colosseum is the Arch of Constantine, a 25m high monument built in AD 315 to mark the victory of Constantine over Maxentius at Pons Milvius.
After several centuries it fell into neglect and began to fall into ruin.
The last recorded games were held there in the 6th century.
Other public spectacles that were held there were re-enactments of famous battles, dramas based on Classical mythology, animal hunts and even executions.

(Arch of Constantine)

The Gladiators:

Although it is not true for every case, most gladiators were slaves, prisoners of war, or convicted criminals. These men were lured in by hopes of glory and riches.
Most of these fighters were men, but there are cases of female gladiators.
Contests were typically single combat between two men of similar size and experience and did not always end in brutal deaths.
Gladiators were generally expensive to house and feed, so owners were usually reluctant to have them killed.
Nevertheless, gladiator lives tended to be short and brutal and gladiators typically only lived until their mid-20s.
People from all social classes attended these events, including the emperor himself.
If the ground became too soaked with blood throughout the day’s fighting, a fresh layer of sand was placed on top and the fighting raged on.
In contests held at the Colosseum, the emperor had the final say in whether the felled warrior lived or died, but rulers and fight organizers often let the people make the decision.
Fighters were placed into different fighting classes based on their record, skill level and experience.
Most warriors specialized in a particular fighting style and set of weaponry.
The most popular gladiator classes were the “thraeces” and “murmillones,” who fought with sword and shield, but there were also the “equites,” who rode in on horseback; the “essedarii,” who fought from chariots; and the “dimachaerus,” who may have wielded two swords at once.
Of all the popular gladiator types, perhaps the most unusual was the “retiarius,” who was armed with only a net and a trident. These warriors tried to ensnare their opponents with their net before moving in for the kill, but if they failed, they were left almost entirely defenseless.
Gladiators usually became celebrities and sex symbols.
Despite popular belief, gladiators only rarely fought against animals.

*Checked by: http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-roman-gladiators

My Experience:

The Colosseum has fallen into ruin over the centuries since its glory in Ancient Rome. However, this ruin allows visitors to experience the Colosseum in ways that the Romans could not. Due to its deterioration, you can see the underneath portion of the Colosseum’s floor that would have been hidden from spectators in ancient times. (see below)

(Seeing the levels under the original flooring)

We even also got to see some of the cells that held the gladiators and some of the animals that were used during the games.

(A cell in the main part of the arena)

(One of the holding cells)

(Another entrance into the arena)

Literary Recommendations:

There is plenty of literature on the glories, the tragedies, and the lifestyle of the Ancient Romans. For this literary recommendations list, I challenge you to expand your horizons and focus on literature that is not solely based on the history of the Colosseum. I recommend that you pick up some of the most influential works in all of human literature, such as the writings of Virgil (The Aeneid) or the works of Horace if you are interested in a satire. The Aeneid is an epic poem that is based off of some of the writings of Homer. If you like tales about epic heroes and demigods, like Achilles, Hector, Perseus, and Hercules, I strongly encourage you to pick up The Aeneid and experience the tale of Aeneas!

Thank you all so much for checking out my post! I hope you enjoyed it and learned something new. I actually have the extraordinary privilege of being able to return to Rome this Spring (2017)! I am beyond excited and I cannot wait to see the wonderful treasures that Rome has to offer for a second time! I thought I would do this post as a before and another post as an after when I get back from my trip in the spring. I plan on learning a lot more on my upcoming trip and I’m looking forward to seeing different parts of the Colosseum that I have not seen before. Stay tuned, friends!

-Gabrielle

** All pictures are taken by yours truly **

Tales of a Traveling Brunette

Life. Love. Travel.

Paris is Always a Good Idea

Paris, France (visited in 2013)

The History of the Louvre: *

Protecting the Louvre During WWII: **

Some of the Featured Masterpieces: ***

Literary Recommendations:

Gladiators, and Lions, and Literature, oh my!

The Colosseum in Rome, Italy (visited in 2013)

The Gladiators:

Literary Recommendations: