The Louvre dates back to the 10th century. Over the years, it has gone from being a fortress to defend Paris, a royal palace, then a chateau, and finally—the most famous museum in the world.I visited the Louvre again yesterday morning for a couple of hours; as you can tell, I have no company as I wander and explore. I continued my discovery of the Richelieu Wing and meandered through a large section of French sculptures from the fifth through the 18th century. Some of these have been rescued from French courtyards and palaces and some are copies. I saw some amazing work, especially a wooden carving of the Virgin and the baby Jesus done around 1400 AD.
I made a turn out of a sculpture room and bumped into the Escalier Lefuel (a stairway by the architect Lefuel), a beautiful staircase built in 1850. Remember that the Louvre was a huge castle at that time and this was commissioned by Louis Viscounti for his library.I also wandered into Napoleon III’s apartments from the mid 1800s! Who knew they were here? It was like a little touch of Versailles—the incredibly high ceilings, lavish drapes and velv
et wallpaper, massive murals on the walls and ceilings, the elaborate furniture, enormous chandeliers, and the very ornate and fancy decorate painting and woodworking on the walls. This was his grande salle a manger (his formal dining room--there was also a petite one!).But wow, I still have a lot more to see according to this Louvre map!
