Part 2, the Louvre...What can we say?...It was all we'd imagined and more...Tomorrow, Part 3, with Venus de Milo!

In taking this photo from a window, I later thought it was a painting. But, it was a photo I took.

Yesterday morning, we cancelled the trip of Notre Dame. After a horrible night's sleep of only three hours on Sunday, I just don't have the energy to climb 22 flights of stairs up the Cathedral and then walk for an entire day.

In this photo you can see a reflection of a statue behind me and also, me taking the photo.

Sunday night, at a nearby restaurant where we had an awful meal, in a desperate attempt at something different to drink, I ordered a Coke Zero which I rarely do. I'd given up drinking soda a long ago.

Whatever happened to figurines such as these, that our grandmothers had on a Fhyfe table in the living room next to the sofa.

The caffeine from the Coke Zero coupled with several cups of tea late in the day kept me awake, not falling asleep until 3 am, awakening at 6 am. After a good night's sleep last night, I'm raring to go and we'll be back out again today.

These cups and saucers reminded Tom of a set he'd had that belonged to his mother that was over 100 years old. He saved it in a tote with other memorabilia that he left with family to later give to the grandchildren. It may not have been valued as much as these shown but, it was fun to compare.

I believe Sunday's post may have included more photos than we've posted in any of over 700 posts. There may have been more when we were on safari in Kenya or on a busy "visitors" day in Marloth Park.

More familiar looking dinnerware.

Loading more than 10 photos per post presents problems with editing increasing posting time by almost double. How could we not share the number of photos we've been posting in Paris? Please bear with us if the formatting is less than perfect, particularly in paragraph spacing.

This pattern was similar to a set of dishes I'd purchased years ago, that were well over 100 years. We sold the set to friend Peggy, knowing they'd be in good hands.

With over 80 remaining photos to share, we'll be adding Part 3, the Louvre for Wednesday. As I go through the remaining photos deciding what I could leave out, its impossible to decide.

Small jewelry boxes created in the finest of detail.

As a result, posting the Louvre on Wednesday, especially convenient when we didn't do the Notre Dame Cathedral on Monday, will wrap up that segment leaving days for sightseeing which we'll commence again today.

Another room with royal treasures.

The Louvre is a complex place. One could visit every day for a year finding something new each day. For a scholar intent on studying the complexity of the Louvre, it would be a daunting task.

Clocks are a common theme in several modern art areas of the museum.

Perhaps an official or a self portrait.

For us, neophyte photographers that we are, and seldom art aficionados, the undertaking is pure pleasure combined with curiosity. However, this website is not intended as a scholarly journal.

Stained glass windows.

Instead, it's the telling of an ongoing tale of two semi-retired 60 something's with few aspirations beyond the exciting lifestyle associated with that "telling."

More exquisite stained glass windows.

Many blog writers have dreams of writing books, making public appearances while itching for a certain degree of notoriety. Not us.

Could these be compasses with only one hand?

Many world travelers, some similar to us, have embarked on book writing campaigns with TV appearances, book signings, tours of their native country and beyond. That's not for us. At times, we've discussed writing a book. (How easy it could be when we already have the outline here online!).

Pocket watches.

But, as we've observed a few others world travelers similar to us in ways, on news programs, dressed in business wear, hair and makeup done by the network, we cringe at the thought.

Art is more symbolic than literal to be interpreted by the beholder, as in the case in these beautiful pieces.

Mother and daughter.

We have no interest in traveling across the US to go from bookstore to bookstore, signing and smiling until our hands and faces hurt to promote a book. We want to live the contents of what such a book would tell, not tell about such a book.

Religious connotation.

For many years, I promised myself I'd write a book. Now, as the book industry rapidly changes from paper to digital, the profits have been diminished and it just wouldn't be worth it. If someone offered me one million dollars today to give this up, I wouldn't accept it.

As we peered outside there didn't appear to be many visitors in the courtyard. Most of them were already inside trying to take photos of the more popular works of art.

Happiness is happiness. Why would one sell out happiness for money? Sure, piece of mind about money is nice. We have that as long as we continue to follow our budget. Does more piece of mind guarantee more happiness? I doubt it.

Heaven and earth?

After a few days, the knowledge of having more money settles into the familiarity zone and in no time, the quality of the life one had before the money seeps back in. If one was happy then and is happy with the new life the money dictates, then all is well.

Ladies playing cards.

For us, an advance on a book would mean pressures of time and effort I don't feel we want to give, especially the contractual piece about promoting the book in bookstores and on TV. No thanks.

Could this be a card reader?

I don't know what this has to do with the Louvre. Perhaps it revolves around the fact that we make every effort to create an appealing story with photos each day with "literally" no ulterior motives, no priming for a book deal or notoriety. Its basis is pure and simple pleasure.

Are these smaller boats "tenders" of that era, taking passengers out to the ships?

This legacy in words and photos for our grandchildren and for generations to come in leaving this adventure behind also provides us with great joy. Knowing that we have almost 200,000 readers worldwide (by the time we leave here on Saturday) gives us all the satisfaction that we'll ever need.

We loved the depth in this painting.

We spotted this man drawing from a painting on the wall.

We hope that through our stories and photos that readers may find a morsel that appeals to them, piquing their interest and inspiring them. Some of our readers write saying that they "travel along with us in spirit.

This farm scene with goats was location in the Nordic area of the museum.

From the romantic period.

Such words from our readers means more to us than any mandatory book tour or a chunk of money we'd add to our safety net, forgetting about it in a few days or weeks.

This is Queen Marie de Medici by Frans Pourbus.

A man and his dog.

As we continue to write about the Louvre, we smile at the reality that we aren't into sightseeing and Tom's not into walking. Although, that's all we've been doing since we arrived 12 days ago with over 35 miles, 56 kilometers, logged in the first eight days. Surely, we'll walk many more miles.

Enjoy these additional photos of the Louvre today, finalizing tomorrow in Part 3 with excellent crowd free photos of the Venus de Milo.

Happy Tuesday!
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Photo from one year ago today, August 12, 2013:

A year ago, I wrote describing this book I'd read while in Tuscany about how we as humans can spend too much time sitting and how destructive long periods of sitting is to our health. For details from that day, please click here.