Monthly Archives: June 2013

Oh my good word! The amount of people visiting the Louvre was crazy. The number of people trying to see Mona Lisa was ridiculous. Pushing, shoving, starting fights- I guess it’s all part of art appreciation. Geesh! Check out the woman’s purse and elbow on Lennon’s face. The woman could have cared less if she had trampled him to death. Apparently, all sense of decency goes out the window when you’re trying to photograph a masterpiece!

The Nike (Victory) of Samothrace (an island) was made between 220 and 190 B.C. and is constructed of marble.
The Winged Victory (a Hellenistic Greek sculpture) portrays the goddess of victory standing on a ship’s prow with her wings spread and her robe blowing in the wind. The broken sculpture was discovered on the Aegean island of Samothrace in 1863 and was sent to the museum in Paris to welcome visitors on the top of a large staircase.
I love this sculpture- it is so powerful in person.

The kids loved the “big glass pyramid” and watching the pigeons play in the fountains.

~Located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower is one of the most well known structures in the world.
~The Eiffel Tower was originally built as the entrance arch for the World’s Fair in 1889.
~It is named after Gustave Eiffel, whose company was in charge of the project.
~The Eiffel Tower is 1050 feet high and was the tallest man made structure in the world for 41 years before being surpassed by the Chrysler Building in New York.
~The Eiffel Tower is made of iron and weighs around 10000 tons.
~Around 50 tons of paint are added to the Eiffel Tower every 7 years to protect it from rust.
~Despite its height, the Eiffel Tower was designed to be wind resistant, swaying only a few inches in the wind. It actually moves further when the iron on the sun facing side heats and expands, moving the top up to 7 inches away from the sun.
~Temperature also alters the height of the Eiffel Tower by up to 6 inches.
~Being so popular, the Eiffel Tower design has been recreated around the world, including the half scale replica at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in the US and the full scale Tokyo Tower in Japan.
~Not everyone liked the Eiffel Tower when it was first built, with many criticizing its bold design. (It was saved from destruction because it could be used for transmitting radio waves.)
~The French name for the Eiffel Tower is La Tour Eiffel, it also has the nickname La dame de fer which means the iron lady. (Facts are taken from a “science kids” website.)