This was our day to finally visit the Louvre.  We were quivering to lay eyes on some of the world’s most famous treasures.  As we made our way down the glass pyramid into the entrance we immediately discovered an embarrassment of riches.  Bien sûr we saw La Joconde (I overheard someone next to me whisper, “Why is it so famous?”) and walking through the Grand Gallery with all those huge Delacroix was breathtaking.  We passed the Venus di Milo and other famous statuary, visited the Egyptian and Coptic wings, saw ancient Asian art and the Crown Jewels just to name a few.  The rooms themselves were stunning works of art all on their own from their palatial days dating back to the medieval period.  It was the actual seat of power in France until Louis XIV moved to Versailles in 1682, bringing the government with him.  The Louvre remained the formal seat of government until the end of the Ancien Régime in 1789.  My very favorite was the pre-Renaissance era; I was drawn to this Tau cross and to my surprise it claimed to be the oldest known depiction of my beloved St. Francis.  I also loved Daphnis and Chloe in with the masters.  Burk really liked Napoleon’s Coronation and the huge winged bulls from Mesopotamia.  It was like the ultimate high for two museum junkies!  I have heard it said that if one paused for just one minute in front of each work of art it would take about one month without ceasing to complete seeing all the Lovre’s works.  We also went to the Orangerie so that I could see Monet’s Water Lilies.  This was vaguely disappointing (as I adore French impressionism) and I had no idea how long they were (rectangular) with essentially no detail in the middle.  I am very glad I got to see them but they did not match the images I had always carried in my mind from calendars and things that have been reproduced.  That night we ate on La Belle Sur Seine (Chinese; Burk was sick of French) and I got introduced to lychees!!!  When I told the girl I had never seen them before I thought her eyes were going to pop right out of her head.  They were FANTASTIC and tasted a little like mandarin oranges but looked like giant, round peeled grapes.  This was a romantic dinner cruise that took us around the Seine.  It was the summer solstice and I was delighted to be spending the longest day of the year in Paris with Burk.  They had live music festivals going on all over the city and we stayed out really late just wandering around listening to different kinds of music wafting on the summer’s breeze.  To my delight I discovered all the tobacconists only carried Cuban cigars!  Despite my French my naïveté marked me as American.  And the French did not poo poo smoking outdoors.  I don’t think it even started to turn dark until around midnight.  When it finally did vendors started selling lit Eiffel Towers of all sizes.  They were so cool and I still cherish my little souvenir from that memorable, magical night.  How fitting the etymological root of “souvenir” is French and means to revisit.

“Ever poised on that cusp between past and future, we tie memories to souvenirs like string to trees along life’s path, marking the trail in case we lose ourselves around a bend of tomorrow’s road.” ~ Children’s author Susan Lendroth