Art, Artists & Architecture

Stella

Today we went to the Louvre. Emergency  joke of the day. Who loves to sit on the toilet  all day long? Lou-wees.

Ok back to business! We went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa and lots of lovely carved Greek statues. We even saw a mummified cat . On the way back I bought a pocket watch. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fun. I enjoyed today🥳🤩🤪️🤣🥰🤪🤩🥳🤯🤫🤤🥴🤠🤡

Jac

So exciting to come face to face with the Mona Lisa and to wonder what was behind that famous smirk; maybe “ You might not think I’m much of a looker now, but wait 500 years and it will be all about me” # IMona

Continuing the thread, Stella asked me “Mumma, is the person who painted the Mona Lisa famous?” and I replied “Yes Stella, he is famous and his name is Leonardo Da Vinci”. Stella followed up with, “Mumma is Leonardo Da Vinci more famous than Sia?” The only answer I could give was that Leonardo Da Vinci didn’t do a version of Clap your Hands and Sia only ever painted the town red, so that makes them pretty much on par!

One of the things that is very noticeable at the ‘Paris Big Things’ is the long queues at the women’s toilets. My solution is to have a couple of designated “Express” toilets where your business is over within 2-4 minutes and then you’re out of there! Any longer, then the toilet flushes, the seat goes down, and the door opens*.

We’ve already got “Express” in banks, supermarkets and airports so why not in other “convenience” areas! But we might need to have a closer look at whether “Express” concepts of  “8 items or less” and “bag drop” are transferable…

*A sense of urgency, achieving KPIs and avoiding embarrassing situations are proven psychological motivators.

Daisy

Today we caught a train  to the Louvre and we saw the most important, amazing, incredible, expressive, accomplished painting ever! And it was the…Mona Lisa! It blew my mind! But there were actually better paintings in the Louvre. I mean, people think that the Mona Lisa is the most famous panting ever but this does not mean it is the best!

After that we had lunch 🥙 at this restaurant and it was yummy in my tummy. Then we went home.

Dan

Even though I had visited the Louvre back in 2012, I was not prepared for my reaction to the architectural delights that awaited us today. Of course I had anticipated the glass pyramids, and the external structure of the buildings, but upon alighting the Sully entrance staircase on our quest to see the Mona Lisa, I had to stop and take a moment to savour the enormous space around us, with its ornate ceilings and towering arches. The building was as impressive as the art pieces themselves, and I felt very privileged to spend a few hours within the grandeur of the old palace, wondering what secrets those walls could tell.

I also relished seeing Daisy and Stella’s reactions to all that they saw; paintings, decorative arts and antiquities! Daisy astutely wondered why there were no landscapes in the Italian painting collection and Stella’s unconventional viewing positions ensured no image was left unanalysed.

Tomorrow we are heading to Montmartre and Daisy especially is excited to mix with the local artists and share some of her recent works!

PS I saw Stella’s Mister today and added a picture to her previous blog post and song that she wrote for him.  Not sure he fits future son-in-law prospects but I’ll leave that up to you, the viewer to decide!