Paris on my mind 1

Paris on my mind - things I loved.
The excavated remains of the walls and foundations of the very old original palace on the site of the Louvre. This is the wonderful 'fairyland' palace that is in the background of some of the magical illuminations from the Tres Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry. the palace with the turrets and towers.

 These walls are below the Carousel entrances to the Louvre which are at the start of the Tuileries gardens. This whole area was wonderfully excavated and preserved as part of the new entrance to the Louvre designed by I M Pei. Now it is a huge array of halls on several levels with boutiques and expensive shops and a most refined looking Macdonalds. I didn't visit but saw the arches. It was so out of context. Here you are below the gobsmackingly huge former royal palace seized and turned into an art museum for the people after the Revolution of 1789.
So where does the strange Australian idea that art is not for the people come from? The art museums in Paris cost at least 10 euros to enter - the thousands who visit these wonderful cultural repositories are from everywhere - many French people and many visitors.
This is definitely 'high' culture, the leftovers of the aristocracy, royalty and wealthy from history. People want to look and study this heritage, they love it. This is just one aspect of the cultural heritage in Paris and there would be many may more aspects reflecting the diversity of the Parisian community.

 This poor photo is of the ceiling of a adjoining hall between the gallery with the David oath of the Horatii and Gericault's Raft of Medusa and the wonderful Delacroixs. the adoration of Napoleon is alive and well in Paris and brings in the dollars of course.

 The enshrinement of Napoleon in Paris was really underway not only during his reign but years later when Napoleon Buonaparte's nephew Napoleon III claimed the Imperial position. Installed as the President of the Third Republic in 1848,  a few years later he was the Imperial Emperor just like his uncle.

 This huge statue looks over the hall of Napoleon sheltered by I M Pei's glass pyramid. It's wonderful.

"Loris Gréaud has come up with an artistic double-header: a mysterious, ghostly sculpture whose presence-absence irradiates the emptiness of the pyramid while referencing one of the museum's masterpieces; and as part of a joint venture project with the Centre Pompidou, another monumental sculpture will be presented in the Forum there. The artist's project is a meditation on statuary: the plinth, the ceremony, and the moment of unveiling." Louvre website 17/1/14 
It was financed by Mercedes Benz and I hope it is permanent.

The scale of this place is so beyond the everyday but what makes it fascinating and alluring is this immensity that is on a  horizontal plane, the footprint is vast but still somehow linked to the human scale in one's ability to get around it. Vast vertical structures like very tall skyscrapers seem more alienating to me. Am I a conservative reactionary? i know this was built for the king but the citizens did claim it for their own soon after the Revolution. Is it to do with the contrast between modern shiny (anti bacterial hahaha) surfaces compared to the warm toned aging porous stone and marble. Is it to do maybe with the contrasting effect of perfectly uniform artificial lighting compared to natural light from huge windows. I know I am being simplistic and I love much of contemporary architectural design and I also love looking at art in beautifully lit white spaces but maybe it's like the difference between say Antoni Tapies and Jeff Coons. It's something to do with the traces of the human experience. 
At any rate i would love to hear other opinions. i could do a faux marxist analysis of the place but this is a museum that is enjoyed and patronised by thousands each day - except Tuesdays of course. I think there is more hot air and gross vanity not to mention hypocrisy and inequity coming out of current houses of the people ie parliament than this place.