Hola, the time has come for me to report from Barcelona, Spain. First, lets go back to the beautiful city of Paris, France.
The last few days of Paris were just as spectacular as the first, full of pastry, French cuisine, beer, wine and of course; the Moulin Rouge. Sunday was a magnificent display of what Paris has to offer, the sun breaking through the dim Europe cloud; lighting the face of the Louvre and Champs-Elysées. The Louvre itself was most impressive, the modern and iconic pyramid resting between such beautiful Architecture.
I was quite excited to hit up the Mona Lisa, like many; you always dream about placing your eyes on such a beautiful and meaningful painting. So off I went, sifting through the thick tourst crowd, venturing through historic pieces and artefacts in an aim to locate Leonardo's work. Upon reaching The Mona Lisa, was a great buzz of energy, as you can imagine I was not the only soul wanting to visit Lisa, as there were dozens of other people rushing and cramping into the open space where she was on display. Surprisingly small in size, yet large in room presence stood this amazing piece of art protected by bulletproof glass. The image of the Mona Lisa is well known throughout the world, in fact, I challenge you to name another painting that is more studied and glorified than the Mona Lisa, and one that you could acurately display in your mind.
For years I had this image in my mind that represented the Mona Lisa, I had seen and imagined the painting in my mind probably over a thousand or more times. However, when I walked into the segregated room at the Louvre, I knew in my mind that this was the first. It gave me a most reassuring emotion that something so beautiful does exist on canvas, that the hype of the Mona Lisa was not something of public creation nor was it false. I encourage everyone to do a quick Wiki search of the painting, there are a number of very interesting facts about the painting which was commissioned in 1503-1506. Some interesting facts for me include the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, Pablo Picasso included as a suspect before being exonerated; whilst the actual thief (Vincenzo Peruggia - Louvre employee) stored the painting in his living room for two years before being caught. ALso, King Francis I of France bought the painting from DeVinci's assistant whom acquired the painting follow the great Painters death in 1519.
I guess I should talk about the show, well, cameras and filming are forbidden throughout the entire show, maybe I should have you visit the city itself and experience the energy and beauty first hand. But if I was to say one thing, it would be that the show is on par with the production 'Cats', and I guess it has the same public interest as Cirque du Soleil, however, there is only one Moulin Rouge, and there is only one Paris.
A very special thankyou to Danah, such a beautiful person and I cannot thank you enough. The one-hour sleep before the flight was well worth the fruitée beer.
Leaving Paris was not easy, but arriving in Barcelona makes it a little easier.
Hasta la proxima vez, viaje seguro.
J
The last few days of Paris were just as spectacular as the first, full of pastry, French cuisine, beer, wine and of course; the Moulin Rouge. Sunday was a magnificent display of what Paris has to offer, the sun breaking through the dim Europe cloud; lighting the face of the Louvre and Champs-Elysées. The Louvre itself was most impressive, the modern and iconic pyramid resting between such beautiful Architecture.
The Louvre
Paris, France
Place de la Concorde
Paris, France
Place de la Concorde and Arc de Triomphe
Paris, France
I was quite excited to hit up the Mona Lisa, like many; you always dream about placing your eyes on such a beautiful and meaningful painting. So off I went, sifting through the thick tourst crowd, venturing through historic pieces and artefacts in an aim to locate Leonardo's work. Upon reaching The Mona Lisa, was a great buzz of energy, as you can imagine I was not the only soul wanting to visit Lisa, as there were dozens of other people rushing and cramping into the open space where she was on display. Surprisingly small in size, yet large in room presence stood this amazing piece of art protected by bulletproof glass. The image of the Mona Lisa is well known throughout the world, in fact, I challenge you to name another painting that is more studied and glorified than the Mona Lisa, and one that you could acurately display in your mind.
Mona Lisa
The Louvre
Paris, France
For years I had this image in my mind that represented the Mona Lisa, I had seen and imagined the painting in my mind probably over a thousand or more times. However, when I walked into the segregated room at the Louvre, I knew in my mind that this was the first. It gave me a most reassuring emotion that something so beautiful does exist on canvas, that the hype of the Mona Lisa was not something of public creation nor was it false. I encourage everyone to do a quick Wiki search of the painting, there are a number of very interesting facts about the painting which was commissioned in 1503-1506. Some interesting facts for me include the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, Pablo Picasso included as a suspect before being exonerated; whilst the actual thief (Vincenzo Peruggia - Louvre employee) stored the painting in his living room for two years before being caught. ALso, King Francis I of France bought the painting from DeVinci's assistant whom acquired the painting follow the great Painters death in 1519.
The Louvre
Paris, France
The Louvre
Paris, France
The Louvre
Paris, France
The Louvre
Paris, France
The Louvre
Paris, France
The Louvre
Paris, France
The Louvre
Paris, France
The last night in Paris however, was by far the most exciting. Thanks to the greatness of my guitar instructor and current Mater family member Amiel, we managed to organise some tickets to the Moulin Rouge. Some would say that the Moulin Rouge is a definite stop when in Pairs, but only a few get to experience what I encountered on my arrival. Instructed to turn up at Moulin Rouge at 2245hrs, before proceeding to the side entrance of the building where I was given a code that gave me inside access to a side of the Moulin Rouge that is not visible or available to the public. Upon transmitting through the side door, my next instruction was then to buzz the security door at the end of the ramp and speak with security inside. From there, we received a special invitation that allowed us to skip the line of public folk and proceed to our table, where we would eagerly await the show. Walking down that side access gave me the feeling of Paris, truly special. Skipping the public line, and being looked after by the waiter staff definitely capped off my stay in Paris. The invitation card to me was worth more that the city itself though, the thought and generosity cannot be matched by any other offer of kindness.
The Moulin Rouge
Paris, France
The Moulin Rouge
Paris, France
I guess I should talk about the show, well, cameras and filming are forbidden throughout the entire show, maybe I should have you visit the city itself and experience the energy and beauty first hand. But if I was to say one thing, it would be that the show is on par with the production 'Cats', and I guess it has the same public interest as Cirque du Soleil, however, there is only one Moulin Rouge, and there is only one Paris.
A very special thankyou to Danah, such a beautiful person and I cannot thank you enough. The one-hour sleep before the flight was well worth the fruitée beer.
Leaving Paris was not easy, but arriving in Barcelona makes it a little easier.
Hasta la proxima vez, viaje seguro.
J
