Le Louvre
 

I'm aware that le Louvre is glass pyramid which is the entrance to a well known art gallery in France. Im curious if the pyramid's architecture was influenced by the egyptians at all. The shape itself was a symbol of power and wealth for the egyptains, but is their a reason for why a French architect chose to construct a pyramid in France?

No. The pyramid is a piece of modern art that was added to the Louvre well after its construction, in fact, well after the Louvre became the museum. It was completed in 1989, was considered an eyesore by Parisiennes for the first ten years, and now has become a symbol for Paris, much like the Eiffel tower went from eyesore to "La tour."

The main pyramid is surrounded by three others, and then there is an upside down one at the mall entrance. It was designed by I.M. Pei. ETA: I.M. Pei is actually Japanese, I believe, not French.

There is controversy, as well, that President Mitterrand commissioned it because he had a Pharaoh complex, but that's about as close to Egyptian anything that it gets. Many people don't believe that's true.

OMG. Two trips to Paris and apparently something stuck in. I only had to look up the date of construction. My French professors would be so proud.

Fun tidbit - if you're a Victor Hugo fan, the painting that "inspired" the battle scenes in Les Miserables is hanging in the Louvre, English translation Liberty Guides Her People, is HUGE (mural-sized), and absolutely incredible. Lady Liberty is as iconic in French culture as she is in American. American revolutionaries pulled many ideas from the French Revolution for their own, including "Liberte', Egalite', Fraternite'" meaning "Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood," many of the same ideas are in our own Declaration of Independence.

Which is part of the reason the French knew the gift of the Statue of Liberty would be well accepted by Americans. They see themselves as our big brothers much like the United Kingdom, but idealistically. A matching, smaller version of Lady Liberty stands in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. The actual intended title of the Statue of Liberty is Liberty Enlightening the World.

I've digressed, yet again.

Firstly, the Louvre is a bit more than just an art gallery. I.M. Pei is American of Chinese descent. The Louvre itself has been around for centuries, first as a fortress, then a palace/royal residence and then finally as a museum. The pyramids were completed at different times as well, not all at once.

Mitterand had many modern things built, not just the pyramids in front of the Louvre, so the "pharaoh complex" is rather unfounded. He had many modern construction projects going on as his legacy to the capital. L'opera Bastille, Grande Arche de la Defense, the Bibliotheque Nationale and more..

"Liberty guiding the people" was painted by Eugene Delacroix and is not exactly "Lady Liberty" but rather Marianne, the symbol of liberty, and a goddess figure in a toga type garment, and she is wearing a French revolutionary's hat(from 1789) on her head. Marianne is also the symbolic image of the republic on French stamps as well as on the now unused Franc coins and for a while was on the 100 franc note with a painting of Delacroix himself. The boy holding the gun on the right is thought to be the inspiration behind Gavroche - never confirmed by Hugo himself-who is a character in les Miserables. Though not depicting the French revolution, it was depicting the revolution of 1830. Currently, thanks to Coldplay's Viva la Vida, people are becoming more familiar with the painting.

The smaller version of the Statue of Liberty is actually at the end of a bridge on the river Seine facing southwest, which was actually a gift to the French by the Americans on the centennial of the French revolution. There are also replicas all over France, in many cities, as well as across the world.

The French revolution came well after ours, 1789-1792, so the French revolutionaries took a lot of their ideas from us, not the other way around. They helped us fight in ours, but they were still under the rule of Louis XVI at the time. Louis sent troops to our aid. There is very little possibility that the declaration of Independance was influenced by the French, their Declaration des droits de l'homme et du cityoen (the declaration of the rights of man and the citizen ) was and fundamental document in the French revolution and was written in 1788.

BTW Parisiennes are females, I think you mean Parisiens or in English, Parisians.

Dude, didn't you see/read the DaVinci Code? :p

If you don't want to wait in they pyramid line you can get into the Louvre through the metro entrance!

More from Michelle's vacationing tips soon.