europepics

This summer I was lucky enough to spend almost two weeks in Europe. It was an incredible experience. I returned home with over 750 photos, but there was so much more to see. I thought that I would share a bit of the art and architecture from my pictures of France and Italy.

Everywhere you look in Paris there are amazing things to see. Here are just a few....

An entrance into the Notre Dame Cathedral

Sculptures in the sky.

The flying buttresses high atop the Notre Dame.

The Rose Window inside the Cathedral.

Even the simplest of gates are beautiful.

Napolean's Arc de Triumph.

The Old Opera House

The Palace of Justice- A courthouse and the former prison where Marie Antoinette was held.

Ugly gutters? Not in Paris! These cool sculptures keep the rain off of the roof.

And of course, the Eiffel Tower.

School doesn't end until July, so there were tons of field trips everywhere we went.

Here I am! At night under the Eiffel Tower.

The museum was built as the train station in Paris. In 1986 it became an art museum. The Musee d' Orsay houses the Modern Art from the Louvre. It was a highlight of my time in Paris. To walk into rooms filled with original VanGoghs, Monets, Degas, Renoirs, etc. took my breath away.

We were also lucky enough to be at the museum while they had a special temporary exhibit of collector Ambroise Vollard. Vollard was one of the first art collectors to buy the paintings of many modern artists- Cezanne, Gauguin, Picasso, Bonnard and many more. He was also a friend to many of these artists.

The view of the main floor gallery and entrance.

A sneak peek from an upstairs window.

Another field trip. I am sure that all Hedden students would be having a deep discussion just as these boys appear to be.

Pierre Auguste Renoir

Zooming in on the horizontal paint strokes

Paul Cezanne

Cezanne's Mt. Sainte Victoire

I had never seen this Cezanne painting before.

Vincent van Gogh

A close-up of his self-portrait.

Vincent van Gogh's own doctor ~ Dr. Gachet.

Dr. Gachet's House

Claude Monet's wife.

5th graders- Do you remember this painting?

Monet's famous bridge.

Another footbridge painting.

Claude Monet~ Don't forget these turkeys!

Montmartre is a hill in Paris. During the mid 1800's many artists came to live and work there. Picasso, Monet, Renoir, van Gogh and two of my favorite artists, Raoul Dufy and Amedeo Modigliani were some of the artists who lived there in the early 1900's. It was a super fun and lively place to visit.

We traveled to Giverny on my birthday! It was the best present that I could have asked for. The drive from Paris was about an hour. The country-side was beautiful. We entered the gardens at the bottom of a hill and walked along a stream until we reached the famous pond. The gardens were up the hill from there and of course, Monet's house and studio (now a gift shop) were the final stops.

What a cute town Monet lived in! But there were no cars or electrical poles in his time.

The stream

Another field trip! Imagine spending the day in Monet's gardens! I hope those students realize how lucky they are.

The pond and the lily pads.

The Japanese Footbridge.

Me- standing on the bridge!

The gardens.

Do you think Monet really weeded all of this?

The front steps to the house.

A side window.

How quaint!

Hey! He really did have his own turkeys!

The Louvre was built as a palace for the King of France. After the French Revoltution, the palace became a museum for the people of France. The musuem is so huge, it was a bit overwhelming. I saw the highlights on a tour, but people say that it takes days to see every work of art in the Louvre. I did get to see the Mona Lisa! Our tour guide was very serious when she warned us that pickpockets hang out by the famous painting.

Just one small section of the museum.

Happy to enter ~ Here I am!

The Louvre was built on top of a demolished castle. We entered below the museum and could see the remains of the castle.

A smaller version of the Sphinx. It weighs 24 tons!

The majority of the artwork in the Louvre is not on display. I took this picture of what I wasn't supposed to see.

In front of the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The pyramid that was an important location in "The daVinci Code".

On to Italy....

Florence was the heart of the Renaissance. It is the hometown to Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. Florence is bursting with art, architecture and sculptures. It is one of my new favorite places on earth.

This is the famous Duomo in Florence.

The entire Cathedral was covered with red, white and green marble. These are the colors of Italy.

You can see the red-tiled roof of the dome from miles away. My camera was zoomed in, but really we were high on a hill outside of town.

Here I am enjoying my last view of the fabulous Florence. Can you see the Duomo?

The Duomo is just one of the many beautiful buildings in Florence. This is directly across the piazza from the Duomo.

Florence is home to Michelangelo's famous sculpture "The David". We couldn't take pictures inside the museum, but there was a smaller stone version of the marble statue outside, so I snapped a photo of it.

This is a hallway inside the "Uffizi Gallery." Uffizi means offices. This used to be a huge office building, but now it is a museum. Our tour guide was incredible. He knew everything about Renaissance Art. He showed us paintings from Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, etc.

Beautiful sculptures are everywhere.

Michelangelo's actual window!

Mr. Steinkraus and a street artist with the Mona Lisa.

I was sqatting down to sit at the foot of this "sculpture" when it moved and I realized it was alive!

Another live "sculpture". What a way to earn a living.

At first I wasn't sure if I liked Rome, but as soon as I saw the historic center, I fell in love with the city. It was hard to believe that the buildings, streets, sculptures, etc. have survived for over 2000 years through numerous wars and governments and through nature's wear and tear.

This is inside Vatican City. Vatican City is its own country inside the city of Rome. That seemed so strange to me.

The Vatican has a huge museum.

The Sistine Chapel is a part of the museum, but we couldn't take photos inside. I borrowed these pictures from the internet. It was incredible.

Look closely at this pillar. It is actually a painting of a column!

Here is a closer view of the painting. Wow!!!

Art is everywhere in Italy.

The ceilings in the Vatican Museum were incredible.

Beautiful stone carvings.

Leaving the Vatican City and entering Rome again: This painting and relief sculpture were high on a wall. I almost missed it.

The fashion designer, Valentino, was preparing for a bit runway show in Rome. He had all of these columns built for his show. The originals had fallen long ago.

I actually saw part of the show when I returned to the USA on Entertainment Tonight!

There were archeologists excavating near the Forum.

Inside the Pantheon. The artist,

Raphael, is buried here.

Me, standing in front of the Trevi Fountain. I threw a coin in for good luck.

The amazing Colosseum in Rome.

Pompeii was amazing. This ancient city was buried under ash and rock for over 1700 years after the volcano, Mount Vesuvius, erupted and covered the city. Archeologists have excavated a portion of the city and now we can see what life was like so many years ago. The walls were covered with beautiful frescoed murals.

Our final destinations were the cities of Sorrento and Capri in south-eastern Italy. It was weird to instantly feel relaxed in these breathtakingly beautiful sunny towns. We didn't visit any museums or galleries here. Probably, because we didn't want to go indoors!

This was an old mill that sat down below the sidewalk in Sorrento.

A sculpture on the top of the island of Capri.

The tiled floor in my hotel room in Sorrento!

This was built into a wall in Sorrento.

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