Paris in a Day: City Stroll with Louvre and Sacre Coeur

Charles De Gaulle famously had “a certain idea of France.” Arguably, that idea was born nearly a millennium ago at the Louvre. It is the crucible in which the soul of a nation was forged, the sacred shrine that preserves the identity of a people. This is a journey through the centuries, a voyage that brings you face-to-face with the tragedies and triumphs of Western Civilization. You progress through glorious gilded galleries, witnessing the great sweep of history and discovering the intimate stories of individuals. You encounter the grandeur and the grace of Ancient Greece in the shadow of the awe-inspiring Winged Victory of Samothrace and the soft sensuality of the Venus de Milo.

The Renaissance – the French word for “rebirth” – saw a deliberate reaching back to Ancient Roman ideas, ideals, art and architecture. This is on magnificent display in the Michelangelo Gallery, featuring 3 centuries of Italian sculpture that begins with work by the room’s namesake, two Slaves from the Florentine Master’s collection of unfinished works intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II. And, of course, you can’t talk about the Renaissance without mentioning Leonardo da Vinci. The great man traveled to France in 1518, bringing with him a number of paintings, both finished and unfinished. Among these was the portrait of a young woman we know as Mona Lisa. Her hair falls naturally over her shoulders, her neckline unadorned. It is this simplicity that makes her so endearing. But there is nuance, too, a muted playfulness that dances in her beguiling eyes, and the little lift of one corner of her mouth, an enigmatic not-quite-half-smile that has inspired lovelorn poetry and purple prose for more than half a millennium.

Revolutionary France is featured in The Red Rooms. These are home to some of the largest paintings in the Louvre’s holdings, representing some of the greatest moments in modern history, reflected in some of the most inspiring art of the past two centuries. The culmination of Napoleon Bonaparte’s meteoric rise to power and glory is documented in Jacques-Louis David’s massive canvas The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon. At some 6 feet high and 33 feet wide, Napoleon himself was prompted to proclaim, “One can walk through this painting!”

The emperor’s demise in 1815 brought a tumultuous transition. A metaphor for the wreck of the ship of state was seen in Théodore Géricault’s masterpiece The Raft of the Medusa. Barely a year after the dramatic collapse of the Napoleonic regime at Waterloo, the merchant frigate the Medusa ran aground on a sandbank off the west coast of Africa due to poor navigation. Of nearly 150 people who had set off on a rickety raft hastily built, only 15 survived. Géricault’s ambitious project paved the way that led from the Neoclassical to the French Romantic movement. It certainly inspired the young Eugène Delacroix, who would later mark the imaginations of Europe with his poignant piece from 1830, Liberty Leading the People.

You journey over the Seine and back in time as you arrive on the Ile de la Cité at the very heart of Paris. You will take a moment to admire the dazzling exterior of the Sainte-Chapelle, commissioned in the 13th century by King Louis IX (later to be canonized as Saint Louis). The walls of the upper chamber feature more than 2000 square feet of stained glass, constituting one of the most important examples of this High Medieval art from in the world.

The Sainte-Chapelle is effective preparation for the jewel of Medieval Paris, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. As you leave the hustle and bustle of the busy city streets behind and enter this sacred space, time seems to move more slowly. The mists of mystery and history are lifted as your Guide illuminates the story of the most famous of all of Europe’s great Gothic churches, from its consecration in the late 12th century to the recent fire that threatened utter devastation. But like the soul of the city she embodies, Notre-Dame still stands tall and proud.