Paris Day 2

8 December, 13

Today we visited the Louvre and Cirque de Soleil. There are over 35,000 items on display in the Louvre, so you really should devote at least a day just to visit every floor. They have piles of sculpture and artwork around every corner. The problem with that is Art Fatigue. At some point, you can't appreciate the next masterpiece. Stalin said one death was a tragedy. A million deaths was just a statistic. Maybe art is the same way.

The funniest section to me was the room housing “Mona Lisa”. I have seen it twice now. The first time was 18 years ago, during my honeymoon. I was underwhelmed by the experience. It seemed much smaller than it should have been, and it was shrouded inside several layers of protective glass. Now, it is center stage, on a wall all by itself, in a very big room. There is a lot of art hanging on the room’s other walls, but they are just there to take up space. It’s all about “Mona Lisa”. I am still not the biggest fan, but what do I know?

I was again drawn to the sculptures. It is amazing to me how someone can make marble look soft and flowing, like the curves of a robe or gown. Every fiber of my being struggled against reaching out and touching the statues, just to confirm they weren’t real. Venus de Milo is the most famous, but my favorite was Emperor Trajan. He looked so imperious and powerful. Trajan is called one of the Five Good Emperors. He was a great military commander and transitioned well into his role as emperor.

It is almost sacrilege to say this, but the Louvre was just something to do in the morning, while we waited for the really big event of the day. We had tickets to go see Cirque du Soleil. Nothing beats a good circus. Susan and I have been dying to go see one of their shows for years. We watched several youtube videos with the girls to help them understand what was in store. This performance is called “Kooza”. I thought it was going to be about those things that keep your beer cold, but it was just a lot of really cool acrobatics instead. Turns out the word is Sanskrit for "magic box", which explains the whole Jack in the Box intro. 

We were not disappointed. The show was amazing. Katherine was about to pee her pants, because she was so sure that somebody was going to die. I was about to pee my pants, because I wanted to get picked for one of their stunts. Elizabeth and Susan were about to pee their pants, because they didn’t go before the show started.

After the show we ate a great dinner in a restaurant in our neighborhood, just off the Abessess subway stop. We walked home, and evidently all of us got our second wind, because we were rustlin’ and tustlin’ for another hour or so, laughing and playing around, before we finally all got into bed. 

It was a great day.