Apr 11th, 2013 at 6:00PM:
Nearly every visitor to Paris' Louvre Museum will tell you that, once they fight through the crowds to see her, it is surprising how small the famous "Mona Lisa" painting is in person. Today's Photo of the Day shows both the crowds of tourists eager to photograph her, and the relative scale of da Vinci's lady (30 x 21 inches, if you are wanted to know) to other paintings in the museum. It ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Louvre posts
Photo Of The Day: Seeing Mona Lisa
Apr 11th, 2013 at 6:00PM:
Nearly every visitor to Paris' Louvre Museum will tell you that, once they fight through the crowds to see her, it is surprising how small the famous "Mona Lisa" painting is in person. Today's Photo of the Day shows both the crowds of tourists eager to photograph her, and the relative scale of da Vinci's lady (30 x 21 inches, if you are wanted to know) to other paintings in the museum. It ...Louvre Shut Due To Violent Gang Of Pickpockets
Apr 11th, 2013 at 12:30PM:
The Louvre temporarily closed on Wednesday due to a strike protesting trouble with violent pickpockets.
The Guardian reports more than a hundred staff walked out on Wednesday in protest over "increasingly aggressive" gangs of pickpockets that harass both visitors and staff. Staff members who have tried to stop the criminals have been kicked and spat at. The strikers are demanding extra ...Photo Of The Day: Framing The Louvre
Mar 28th, 2013 at 6:00PM:
It's not easy to frame a scene perfectly for a photograph, especially at a popular spot full of tourists. But Flickr user Kumakulanui did it twice for today's Photo of the Day. Taken at Paris' famed Louvre museum, he captures both the larger scene of people and architecture, as well as the close-up his travel companion is shooting on her camera. The result is a very clever double take, giving ...A Winter Wonderland In Paris? Mais Oui!
Jan 28th, 2013 at 10:00AM:
The first fat flakes clustered along my sleeve as I stood facing the Luxembourg Garden on the icy Left Bank. A grumpy street sweeper from the south side of the Sahara scattered salt and scowled. Then he looked up and batted his clotted eyelashes. Snow! In Paris? What a forgotten thrill! ...'Winged Victory Of Samothrace' To Get $4 Million Makeover
Jan 23rd, 2013 at 2:00PM: The "Winged Victory of Samothrace," an iconic Greek statue housed in the Louvre in Paris, is going to undergo a major restoration, Agence France-Presse reports.
The museum will spend an estimated $4 million to clean the statue and repair structural problems. The statue will be out of sight to the public until the spring of 2014.
The statue was made sometime between 220 and 185 B.C. and is ...Louvre Opens New Department Of Islamic Art
Sep 18th, 2012 at 4:00PM:
The Louvre in Paris is opening a new Department of Islamic Art that will have one of the best such collections in the world.
One treasure is this ivory pyxis of Prince Al-Mugẖīra, shown here in a photograph courtesy Wikimedia Commons. It was made in 968 at Medina Azahara near Cordoba, Spain. Note that there are human figures on it. While many Islamic traditions forbid the depiction of ...Tourist Attractions Around The World: Fact vs. Fiction
Apr 10th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
The wonders of the modern world define our travels. Whether we admit it or not, there's something heroic about standing on top of the Great Wall of China or hiking up to the crest above Machu Pichu for the trademark photograph. It's those photos that fuel our travels and that convince our friends and families to make the same trips. It's also those photos that define our perceptions of a ...The Art Newspaper reveals most popular exhibitions and museums of 2011
Mar 24th, 2012 at 11:00AM:
The folks over at the Art Newspaper have just released some interesting stats about the art world of 2011. Collecting a huge amount of data from hundreds of museums and galleries, they've discovered some important trends.
First off, the big shows are getting bigger. The top ten most popular art shows back in 1996, the first year they gathered figures, averaged 3,000 visitors a day. Last ...We should all dance in front of tourist attractions
Feb 29th, 2012 at 12:00PM:
Most people visit tourist attractions to see the sights and say that they've been there. They snap photos of the monuments, pose for a few more shots so that they can prove that they were there and then move on. One clever young lady, however, decided to dance in front of some of the UK and Europe's most famous places. And when Andrea Dighton dances, it's not just glorified running in place. ...
2012 is shaping up to be a big year for Islamic art
Feb 27th, 2012 at 2:00PM: This year, several major exhibitions and new galleries are focusing on Islamic art.
The biggest news comes from Paris, where the Louvre is building a new wing dedicated to Islamic art. This is the biggest expansion to the museum since the famous glass pyramid. The new wing will have room to display more than 2500 artifacts from the Louvre's permanent collection as well as notable loans. It will ...Things you won't see in Paris this holiday season: beggars
Dec 14th, 2011 at 3:30PM:
As tourists window shop in Paris this holiday season, they won't find any more homeless people asking for change around some of the city's most popular areas; the French government has issued a series of decrees that ban begging around Paris' most popular tourist and Christmas shopping spots. According to the Guardian, the Champs Elyssés was the first Paris landmark to fall under the ...Weekending: Bodrum/Greece
Aug 11th, 2010 at 10:30AM:
As an expat in Istanbul, I am very fortunate to have awesome opportunities for short trips around Europe and the Middle East. My previous weekend jaunt was to Beirut, Lebanon. Though the current 90+ degree weather is ruling out a lot of domestic travel for now, for my next getaway, I made like the locals and headed south to the beach.
The place: Bodrum, Turkey
The Bodrum peninsula fancies ...The other pyramids of Africa
May 28th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
This desert land was once home to a great empire that built giant temples in honor of strange, animal-headed gods and memorialized their rulers with pyramids. It had one of the most advanced civilizations of its time and was known throughout the ancient world.
Egypt? No, Sudan.
The Kingdom of Kush in what is now Sudan built great cities and traded the products of its large and expert iron ...Download a walking tour of the city - International travel tip
Mar 16th, 2010 at 4:46PM: A great way to learn about a city before you arrive is to download a walking tour of the city to your MP3 player or smart phone.
Many destinations, particularly in Europe, offer free downloads of maps, audio tours, and podcasts through official city government and tourism websites. Self-guided sightseeing tours of cities and major attractions, such as the Louvre, may also be available through ...Louvre, Versailles, Mont Saint-Michel on strike alert tomorrow
Dec 1st, 2009 at 12:30PM: Workers at Paris' modern art center Pompidou are already on strike over planned job cuts, but those at other French museums and landmarks could join in their fight tomorrow. Seven unions are threatening to walk off the job on December 2nd if their demands aren't met by the MInistry of Culture. They're boycotting the government's plan to cut cultural positions, which would replace only one out of ...Four hotel deals in France this winter
Oct 24th, 2009 at 3:00PM: Go to Europe this winter! Bessé Signature Hotels, a collection of some of France's most unique contemporary hotels, has three deals that make travel to this inspiring corner of the world easier than ever. At discounts of up to 35 percent, it's going to be hard to stay home.
At Domaine de la Bretesche, take advantage of the "Winter Promotion" rate to enjoy Brittany for around $280 a night. ...Egypt in a rift with the Louvre over stolen artifacts
Oct 8th, 2009 at 8:00AM:
tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/08/egypt-in-a-rift-with-the-louvre-over-stolen-artifacts/'; tweetmeme_source = 'Gadling';
The head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, took a bold move yesterday in his on going struggle to get foreign museums to return antiquities taken from that country illegally. Hawass severed all ties with France's the Louvre over that ...McDonald's to move in next to Louvre
Oct 7th, 2009 at 1:00PM: McDonald's is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary in France by opening a new location in the Carrousel du Louvre. This underground mall connects to the storied museum that is home to the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. So, if the latter had arms, she could sport the former's smile with a Big Mac.
France is McDonald's biggest market outside the United States, despite the vocal local minority, and ...Mona Lisa assaulted with coffee mug
Aug 12th, 2009 at 4:00PM: A Russian woman threw an empty terra cotta mug at the most famous painting on display at the Louvre. Despite the propelling of kitchenware, the Mona Lisa was not damaged, though the mug didn't fare as well. It shattered – a side effect of moving at a rapid speed toward a hard object that isn't going to move.
The unusual attack triggered the alarms on the painting immediately, and police ...Renoir going to Paris, you should too
Jul 10th, 2009 at 2:00PM: Don't you want to hang out in Paris with Renoir? The exhibit "Renoir in the 20th Century" is coming to the national Galleries of the Grand Palais on September 23, 2009 and will stay through December 21, 2009. That gives you plenty of opportunity to soak in what promises to be an impressive exhibition. And, since you're already hooked on Paris (who isn't?), Concorde Hotels & Resorts is trying ...
