Louvre Museum: France

The Louvre Museum (Musee du Louvre, pronounced /myze dy luv?/ in French) in Paris, France, is one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. The building, a former royal palace, lies in the centre of Paris, between the Seine river and the Rue de Rivoli. Its central courtyard, now occupied by the Louvre glass pyramid, lies in the axis of the Champs-Elysees, and thus forms the nucleus from which the Axe historique springs. Part of the royal Palace of the Louvre was first opened to the public as a museum on November 8, 1793, during the French Revolution. The Louvre is located at 36, Quai du Louvre, 75001 Paris, France.

The Building

The first royal “Castle of the Louvre” on this site was founded by Philippe II in 1190, as a fortress to defend Paris on its west against Viking attacks. In the 14th century, Charles V turned it into a palace of the arts, but Francois I and Henri II tore it down to build a real palace; the foundations of the original fortress tower are now under the Salle des Cariatides (Room of the Caryatids).

The existing part of the Chateau du Louvre was begun in 1546. The architect Pierre Lescot introduced to Paris the new design vocabulary of the Renaissance, which had been developed in the chateaux of the Loire. His new wing for the old castle defined its status, as the first among the royal palaces. J. A. du Cerceau also worked on the Louvre.

During his reign (1589-1610), King Henri IV added the Grande Galerie. More than a quarter of a mile long and one hundred feet wide, this huge addition was built along the bank of the Seine River and at the time was the longest edifice of its kind in the world. Henri IV, a promoter of the arts, invited hundreds of artists and craftsmen to live and work on the building’s lower floors. This tradition continued for another two hundred years until Napoleon III ended it.

Louis XIII (1610-1643) completed the Denon Wing, which had been started by Catherine Medici in 1560. Today it has been renovated, as a part of the Grand Louvre Renovation Programme.

The Richelieu Wing was also built by Louis XIII. It was part of the Ministry of Economy of France, which took up most of the north wing of the palace. The Ministry was moved and the wing was renovated and turned into magnificient galleries which were inaugurated in 1993, the 200th anniversary of the Louvre Museum.

Commissioned by King Louis XIV, architect Claude Perrault’s eastern wing (1665-1680), crowned by an uncompromising Italian balustrade along its distinctly non-French flat roof, was a ground-breaking departure in French architecture. His severe design was chosen over a design provided by the great Bernini, who came to Paris for the purpose. Perrault had translated the Roman architect Vitruvius into French. Now Perrault’s rhythmical paired columns form a shadowed colonnade with a central pedimented triumphal arch entrance raised on a high, rather defensive basement, in a restrained classicizing baroque manner that has provided models for grand edifices in Europe and America for centuries. The Metropolitan Museum in New York, for one example, reflects Perrault’s Louvre design.

Napoleon I built the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (Triumph Arch) in 1805 to commemorate his victories and the Jardin du Carrousel. In those times this garden was the entrance to the Palais des Tuileries.

The Louvre was still being added to by Napoleon III. The new wing of 1852-1857, by architects Visconti and Hector Lefuel, represents the Second Empire’s version of Neo-Baroque, restlessly charged with detail everywhere and laden with sculpture. Work continued until 1876.

In 1989, the Crystal Pyramid was inaugurated. It was designed and built by Ieoh Ming Pei. It was the first renovation of the Grand Louvre Project. (more…)

Chateau de Versailles: France

The Chateau de Versailles is one of the largest castles in the world .The Chateau de Versailles has … more than 2,000 windows, 700 rooms, 1250 fireplaces, 67 staircases and more than 1,800 acres of park. The paintings, tapestries , sculptures ,furniture of this fabulous castle , have been executed by the best Italian and French artists of the time .

In 1623, King Louis XIII - father of Louis XIV , the Sun King , built a hunting lodge, a little chateau of brick, stone, and slate . The king liked so much this little castle in the middle of such a good hunting park, that he soon had it enlarged by Philibert Le Roy .

From 1661 the young King Louis XIV had his architects, Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin Mansart embellish the early Versailles castle. . From 1668 to 1670 was built a second building enveloping the old Versailles castle with new even style stone façades. After Le Vau’s death in 1670 , François d’Orbay finished the work.

In 1682, the Chateau de Versailles became the official residence of the Sun King and his Court , replacing the Louvre and Saint-Germain Castles.When the king moved into the Versailles castle in 1682 ,before the construction was finished, he insisted that the castle was for the people, and that his home be open to one and all. Gates of the Chateau stayed open all day long, and guards only checked for guns that could endanger the king. From 1678 to 1684, the terrace of the new chateau was transformed into the Hall of Mirrors, symbolizing the power of the Sun King .The construction of North and South castle’s Wings, the Orangery, the Stables ,the Royal Chapel was supervised by royal architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart .The last construction started during the reign of Louis XIV is the Royal Chapel .It was completed in 1710 by Robert de Cotte.

Around 1770, during the reign of King Louis XV, the famous architect Gabriel built the Royal Opera of Versailles. He also transformed some of the facades of the Versailles Chateau on town side, in line with the rules of Classical Architecture and created a new colonnaded building. Finally, in 1820,a symmetrical pavilion was erected on the other side of the Great Courtyard of the Versailles castle.
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Lorraine museum: France

This is a regional museum that would be much more elucidating to those with a little familiarity with the history of the province. We knew nothing about the dukes of Lorraine when we entered, so our tour of the museum amounted to a great deal of studying and question-and-answer sessions–hard work getting to the bottom of “significance” and “meaning”! We thought we’d have to settle for basic facts, but we left with some understanding of past life in Lorraine.

As if by osmosis, we learned, but our appreciation of what we were viewing was drastically impaired by our own ignorance. To make a contrast that many may understand, Normandy did not present this problem! There, everything could be associated with things we already knew from English history, and so everything had meaning. Now that I have reversed (a little) my ignorance of Lorraine’s history, I need to return so that I can appreciate tapestries, glassware, furniture, portraits and paintings of famous celebrations.

The Ducal Palace

The building itself was a prized early Renaissance structure created by the Dukes, beginning with Rene the second in 1502, and its important visitors included Mary Stuart (later Queen of Scots), Henry the second, and Louis the fourteenth. The entrance to the museum is the reconstructed Grand’ Rue palace gate that is the earliest example of Renaissance styling in eastern France, an example that incorporates some flamboyant gothic. Above the door, we admired the equestrian statue of Duke Antoine.

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The Angladon Museum: France

In the Angladon museum you will discover a rich art collection with some of the most prestigious signatures (Cezanne, Modigliani, Picasso, Manet, Degas, Vernet, Van Gogh,…) and you will see the private home of the art lovers who inherited them.Jean Angladon-Dubrujeaud and his spouse, nee Paulette Martin, who inherited the Doucet collection in 1968, are at the origin of the Foundation which they created in their will, prior to passing away in 1979 and 1988, respectively.

The Angladon-Dubrujeaud Foundation came into being on 9 February 1993. The first mission was to create a museum in the private mansion left by the donors. After several months of construction work to create the museum and bring the building to standards, the museum was opened to the public on 15 November 1996. Madame Anne Marie Peylhard was chosen as the Curator.
A 15-member board of directors, currently chaired by Monsieur Gabriel Ourmieres manages the assets left by the founders and the museum operations.

Ex-officio members are: the Minister of the Interior, represented by the Prefect of Vaucluse, the Minister of Culture represented by the Drac, Avignon City Hall, the Fondation de France which acts as Treasurer, and other members chosen by the founder and the board members for their capacities.

Hours :

May-Sep Wed-Sun 1pm-7pm;
Oct-Apr Wed-Sun 1pm-6pm