Day 4 / Pantheon, Pompidou (part 2), Intro to The Louvre

Day 4 - Friday

Today I was up at 5 a.m., ready to visit the Catacombs. Once I made it there and saw the extremely long line that wrapped around the block, I made a swift change of plans. ...on to the Pantheon!

What an amazing masterpiece of neoclassical architecture, with Gothic decorations mixed in with a distinctly classical style!  This monument was changed into  a mausoleum to bury important and distinguished Frenchmen.  It was also fascinating to enter the crypt underneath the church that became the final resting place for Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Louis Braille, Marie Curie, and many other famous writers, poets and scientists.

The Pantheon in Paris, France

...of course, I had to snap a picture to show my students!

Looking up, while outside on the front area of the Pantheon. The design and architecture was magnificent!

The inside of the Pantheon. I was able to capture a 360º panorama to show my students! This creates a virtual image that can be spun, moved around and interacted with on the ipad or iphone.

Another photograph of the interior of the Pantheon.

A small replica of the Pantheon was inside of the Pantheon. I was able to make a video going around this piece to show my students the church. I would have made a 3D capture of the mini Pantheon, but the fence did not allow visitors to go all around the replica.

Inside the crypt. This is a sculpture of an Egyptian cat (not a real cat).

After visiting the Pantheon, I decided to visit The Louvre with the mission to capture/video/photograph most of the really famous pieces that I know are always crowded with visitors. I thought if I could go and see these pieces at night just before closing time, it might keep the crowds from interrupting the process of capturing each piece. This strategy worked! I was able to see all of the really famous pieces with minimal crowds! Later in my visit, I plan to see the rest of The Louvre.

 

Inside the large pyramid that serves as the main entrance to the Louvre, completed in 1989. It consists of 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass segments and was designed by the architect the architect I. M. Pei. 

The Winged Victory of Samothrace (or the Nike of Samothrace) is prominently displayed at The Louvre. 

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1517) was highly protected behind a bar and glass. Guards were also posted on either side. It looked small from such a distance, but was still quite spectacular to see in person!

The Lacemaker is a painting by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). It, too, was much smaller in person than I imagined it would be! It is actually the smallest of Vermeer's paintings!

Visitors to The Louvre look at The Lacemaker by Vermeer.

A view looking outside from a window in The Louvre.

The Inverted Pyramid is a skylight in the shopping mall in front of the Louvre Museum. It looks like an upside-down and smaller version of the Louvre Pyramid.

...made it to closing time. I'm glad I planned to come back another day to visit The Louvre in more depth. There is so much to see, it will take many more hours to fully experience it. I'm really looking forward to the Egyptian collection!