The Louvre in Paris, France – An Art Lovers Paradise

On October 28, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn France4 Comments

We are not art aficionados, but we do really enjoy and appreciate art. Needless to say, one should not go to Paris without visiting the Louvre. It is definitely a museum that you could visit a hundred times and always see and find something new. Of course there is the Mona Lisa, which draws huge lines to see, but there is so much more. Paintings, statues, and other works of art from all of the masters such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Giovanni Bellini, and Rembrandt, just to name a few.

Obviously, art museums should be visited whenever you go to any major city, they contain a rich heritage of our human existence. In some ways, looking at art is like drinking wine. It isn’t about who the artist is, what the subject is, whether it is traditional, modern, abstract, or how critically acclaimed a piece may be. What matters is in the eye of the beholder. As they say, drink a wine that you like, not one that is expensive or is “supposed” to go with a specific food, so should you treat your art experience, find what you like and devour that. Art should move you on the inside and the best art pieces will leave a lasting impression on your soul.

Take time to take a look at the architecture of the Louvre. It is a former palace, before Louis XIV moved to the Palace of Versailles, and the buildings themselves are exquisite. If you’ve seen the movie, the Da Vinci Code, you’re very familiar with the Louvre Pyramid. It certainly stands in stark contrast to the Louvre itself with its modern feel, but we didn’t find it to be “a scar on the face of Paris”, but again, we’re not Parisian. It is part of the whole experience, so take time to stand in the courtyard and enjoy the grandeur of it all.

If you are an art scholar, student, art enthusiast, or simply someone who likes art, the Louvre is a must to visit. If you have the time, sit in front of the paintings, absorb them, take in the details, just don’t rush off to the next one on the list. For that matter, take the list of art with you so that you can be sure to see some of the more famous pieces, but don’t use that as your guide. Stop and look at artwork that grabs your attention, that speaks to you, don’t let others decide for you which pieces you should see. Someday soon we’ll be back to Paris, it is one of, if not the, favorite city we’ve ever had the pleasure to enjoy and the Louvre will be part of our return trip.

What Do You Collect When You Travel?

On March 4, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Blogging, Travel Tips45 Comments

Everyone brings back something from their travels, whether that is simply memories and photographs, or something more. During our early days of traveling, which was all within the United States, we used to collect coffee mugs from everyplace we visited. We even bought special coffee mug racks to display all of our mugs with colorful pictures depicting what is unique about each location. While they were fun to look at, it very quickly became too much to display as the number of coffee mugs grew year after year. Since those days, we have gone with a different approach for finding things that we want to bring home with us to remind us of the places that we’ve visited.

Gluhwein Mug, Alabaster Vase from Egypt, and Greek Urn from Athens

Hand-Stitched Tapestry from Panama City, Panama

Walk through any tourist shop and you will find many of the common things that people collect during their travels. Keychains, refrigerator magnets, shot glasses, coffee mugs, snow-globes, and pens are all among the items that you can usually find in almost any city around the world. Although we used to collect some of those items, now we try to find things that are more unique and often hand-made by local artisans. We love to get inexpensive paintings or small works of art from the different places that we’ve visited. When we buy a painting, we will purchase unframed so that it can be rolled up and protected during our flight back home. We keep them on display and can fondly remember where we found each of the individual items. Some items are very indicative of the city or country, others we simply found intriguing and we still make a connection to the country where we found it.

Statue of an Alsace Woman from Strasbourg, France

In addition to bringing back pieces of art or other unique items, we also bring back money from the places that we visit as well as tourist maps. It is our intention to one day make a collage out of all of the unique tourists maps that proudly display the top tourist attractions within the city. We also intend to someday display that currency that we’ve collected throughout our travels. And even though we purchase them prior to visiting different locations, we also collect the travel books that we use to plan our trips. Perhaps we’re a little weird, but we have a lot of travel items that we’ve collected on display throughout our home. We also have digital frames that rotate through photographs from our travels as well. Is there anything that you collect during your journeys and do you display them for others to see?

Items on Display from France, Iceland, Bolivia, Spain, Ecuador, Mexico, India, and More

India, Egypt, Germany, and Austria Sharing a Shelf

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy

On February 7, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Italy14 Comments

Florence was the cradle of renaissance art for several centuries, so it is no surprise that it hosts one of the most famous museums in the world for renaissance art, the Uffizi Gallery. The Medici family was renowned for their patronage of the arts and commissioned many great works of art from artists such as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Machiavelli. After the family died out, a deal was made to give all of their art to the city of Florence and the Uffizi Gallery is home to many of those works.

One of the most famous paintings in the Uffizi Gallery is the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. Painted sometime in the 1480’s, the painting of the goddess Venus coming to shore after her birth. Other important works in the museum include Michelangelo’s The Holy Family, Leonardo da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi, and Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait as a Young Man. With so many wonderful works of art, you should certainly plan on several hours when visiting the Uffizi Gallery. You should also expect plenty of crowds as it is one of the most visited museums in all of Italy.

One of the Many Rooms with Famous Statues

Although the paintings are certainly the focal point of the Uffizi Gallery, there are plenty of historic sculptures as well. Seemingly every inch of the museum is covered with beautiful works of art and it can be quite overwhelming. As with many other famous museums with so many different works of art to see, a single visit will never truly do it justice, but since we were only in Florence for a week, it would have to do. In addition to the Uffizi Gallery, visiting the Accademia Gallery in Florence to see Michelangelo’s David as well as many other incredible pieces should also be on your agenda.