PARIS

Last weekend I flew into Paris to see my friends Emily, Sarah and Genny. We all met up and stayed at Genny's aunt and uncle's house. We were treated very well, and had a great time. My friends had all been staying there before, so they were great tour guides! Paris is like a dollhouse city. I ate so much baguette and goat cheese. The food was delicious. At the first cafe we kept getting heckled by some French guy who insisted we could speak French. It was so pathetic and hilarious. I can't wait to return...

The first thing I saw was Notre Dame. We walked inside and I couldn't believe the size of it. I've seen many, many churches in my stay in Europe, but this was much different than the rest. It was built around 1163 into the 1240's, but much of the stain glass was destroyed in 1786. Luckily the north and south rose windows were spared, so I believe they are still original glass. They were really wonderful. 

Quaint Paris

Some more quaint Paris. This is Saint Germain en Laye, a western suburb of Paris. We stayed with Genny's Aunt Mary (Uncle Caroll was out of town so we didn't get to see him). It is a very beautiful town, and I enjoyed staying there immensely. 

The next day we went to the Louvre, which was the best thing I saw in Paris. I was overwhelmed not only by the beauty of the art pieces, but by the building itself. The pyramids were designed by the architect I. M. Pei, and I believe they were finished around 1988. The Louvre Palace was begun as a fortress by Philip II in the 12th century, and it was turned into a museum in 1793 (during the French Revolution). There are gilded frescoes and stone inlays all over the ceilings and walls.

Our first stop was Egyptian Antiquities, of course. This is a famous statue is called "Le Scribe Accroupi."

Sarah and I in front of the Winged Victory. As you can see, Emily cropped the most important part of the picture...

In front of "La grande Odalisque" (1814) by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. I bought a postcard of this. That's how much I liked it!

Emily and I posing in front of some huntress statue.

On my last day we saw the entire Eiffel Tower, not just parts of it sticking up behind buildings. It was bigger than I imaged, and much more detailed. Although it was freezing that day, we got a chance to sit and sketch for a bit. 

After the Eiffel tower we went to another delicious cafe. Here is a drawing of Emily while we sat.

The Friday before I left for Paris, our class had an art history tour to Sacro Bosco. It was opened in 1552 by Vicino Orsini, a member of the proud Roman family. After Vicino died however, his family let the park turn into a forest. In this state, it actually became inspiration for Dali and French painters. It is easy to see why, because the dense forest would have allowed these people to stumble across the magnificent statues of turtles, monsters and elephants, to name a few. The most amazing thing about this park is that it was made to look like ancient ruins, although I've never seen any "ruins" like this anywhere else in Italy. A very clever concept. And it was so fun to draw here. 

This is me standing in a house that was purposely built on a very tilted angle. I am standing up straight in this picture. We all had a lot of fun trying to defy gravity in this house. I had so much fun, I almost missed the bus home.

Me inside the mouth of this monster (the mouth of truth).              

Graphite and Pen

Pen

After Sacro Bosco, we went to Villa Lante. There were well-kept hedges, fountains, gardens and statues everywhere. I had fun hanging out in the gardens.