Works of Art

It was astounding to walk through the famous art galleries in Paris. The Louvre is so large that it seems impossible to take it all in, regardless of the time allocated. The Musee d'Orsay was impressive in a different way, with rooms filled with some of my favorite artists and their works. I am partial to the impressionists, so I spent a fair amount of time on the 5th floor of d'Orsay taking pictures of paintings (okay, I admit that sounds strange, but ...).

I believe we all have architecture, design, and building skills inside us. Seeing these works of art was truly inspirational for me. It is pretty sad when you witness so much at one time, because after a while you grow accustomed to being surrounded by very famous works.

I wonder how long it took these masters to create their paintings. I wonder if they ever thought so many people from all over the world would enjoy them years later. I wonder if any of those masters ever conceived of a blog site! (I'm pretty sure da Vinci did, but I can't prove that!)

Le Tour 2009

Bonjour! One of the neatest experiences in Paris was to witness the post-race celebrations for the Tour de France. After sight-seeing all day, we got to the Champs-Elysées just as the teams were circling around for their photo ops and waving to the crowd.

We got to see many different racers, including the top finishers, and I have posted a picture of Lance Armstrong, clearly a crowd favorite even though he came in third this time.

Earlier in the day we had stopped at the LiveStrong exhibit along the Seine and got some chalk to put a message to the racers, and picked up a couple of LiveStrong bracelets. Regardless of what you think of racing and Lance, you have to be in awe of his foundation. Here's Emily leaving her message.

You can click on any of the blog pictures to see them in larger size.

au revoir!