Loire, Louvre, Rodin!

This entry comes direct to you from the free internet access at the George Pompidou Museum. I only have an hour of free access so I'm gonna keep it short!

My good friends Joe and Carrie were in town doing a little vacationing so we took some time to explore more of Paris and the French countryside. Inside Paris we traveled to a couple of great museums, the Rodin Museum and the Louvre. To be honest, I wasn't sure I would really like the Louvre but it is absolutely incredible! It is the largest indoor building in Europe and the art collection is immense. I really enjoyed the Mesopotamian and Egyptian exhibits the most. We, of course, didn't get to the whole museum but we saw a lot in the few hours we were there.

The Rodin Museum was another great museum focusing on Rodin's work. There are world famous sculptures like 'The Thinker', 'The Gates of Hell', 'Ugolino', and 'Eve'. There are a ton of good photos on the Flickr link. We also took a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower which was super crowded but a lot of fun. It was really windy and cold but the views were fantastic! Now I'll let Jess tell you about the Loire castles.

There are about 300 Chateaux scattered accross the Loire valley. We picked a couple of the main ones and headed for the countryside. First stop: Chambord. King Francoise I needed a hunting lodge in the middle of nowhere for 2000 friends. The main attraction was a DNA-shaped staircase, possibly designed by Leonardo de Vinci, which allows two people to use the stairs without passing each other.

Next stop, Chenonceaux. This is where things get juicy. Francoise's son Henri built this castle for his mistress Diane de Poitiers, who helped design the marvelous structure. This chateaux arches out over a river and features a long ballroom with river views on both sides of the room. Diane ruled France alongside Henri for 25 years. Her world came crashing down when Henri finally died in a jousting accident. This is when Henri's wife Catherine de Medici confiscated the Chenonceaux and gave her a different huge luxurious castle to live in. She lost all power and was forced to live in the French coutryside while Catherine de Medici ruled with an iron fist.

More photos here!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59007731@N00/sets/72157594377574587/detail/