Pigeons Flocking At Arc du Carrousel, Louvre, Blk Wht
by Liesl Walsh
Title
Pigeons Flocking At Arc du Carrousel, Louvre, Blk Wht
Artist
Liesl Walsh
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photograph
Description
Pigeons are gathering at the Arc du Carrousel near the Louvre in Paris, France. This arch was commissioned in 1806 to commemorate Napoleon's military victories in 1805. It is an entrance to the Tuileries Garden and is the dominant feature of the Place du Carrousel, the courtyard of the Louvre where the former Tuileries Palace stood. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is only half as large as the more famous Arc de Triomphe which lies at the opposite end of the Champs Elysees. You can see the Louvre pyramid through the arc. The Louvre (Louvre Museum) was my favorite place to visit in Paris. It's grand architecture is impressive. It is located on the the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement of the city. It is the world's second most visited museum after the Palace Museum in China. Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited at the Louvre. The Louvre was originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II. You can see the remnants of the fortress in the basement. The Louvre was a palace and was extended many times. In 1682 Louis XIV left the Louvre and made Versailles his palace, making the Louvre a place to display the royal collection. In 1692 the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture occupied the Louvre and held salons. The Academie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution the Louvre became a museum to display the nation's masterpieces. Under Napoleon the collection was increased, but after his abdication some of his works seized by armies were returned to their original owners. The Museum has 3 wings: Sully, Denon, and Richelieu. Inbetween the Richelieu and Denon is the main court, the Cour Napoleon, which has a new main entrance under a glass pyramid built in 1988. From this courtyard you can see Napoleon's Arc du Carrousel, behind it the Tuileries Gardens, and in the distance the ferris wheel at the Place de la Concorde. This image is also available in color.
You can read about our adventure in Europe in my husband's book, "Vagabonds in France", by Michael A. Barry. Come with us as we lose our home, put everything in storage, and navigate through Europe for a few months with no return date or home to come back to. Sail across the Atlantic, dodge pickpockets, climb mountains, descend into the Paris Metro, endure nasty weather and illness, witness the flood of the century, and meet some wonderful and not-so-wonderful people. Chuckle with us as we live among the French and try to learn their ways and language. Then make it back home to an empty house we'd never seen before. The book with its 75 illustrations is available in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCUNSEK .
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October 26th, 2016
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Comments (18)
Geraldine Scull
I really love this scene, Love the way you captured the tourist and the birds as foreground to the beautiful architecture, and the black and white processing is perfect for this ! l/f
Liesl Walsh
Thank you, Malanda! I appreciate that very much! So glad you are enjoying it! I have many more photos to add to FAA of this adventure! Thousands of pics to go through!
Liesl Walsh
Thank you, Orlando, I appreciate your comment very much! Sorry your memories are limited of Paris. Hopefully looking at some of my Paris images will spark some memories! We were able to be inside the Louvre 2 days, which was nice, but even then we exhausted ourselves trying to see everything. It is an amazing and incredible place. We saw the Mona Lisa also, but from far away (too many people, very crowded).
Rainbow Artist Orlando L
I am happy to hear you have more photo of the larger arc to upload, i sure will comment on every one of them!! i honestly have no memory of visiting this arc nor remembering seeing myself taken photo in front of it, but i have visit Louvre and i know this one is close to Louvre so i might have seen it after all, i just do not have memories of it anymore. the only memory left i have with Louvre is i got the chance to see mona lisa painting in real and to find out how much smaller it is than my imagination. i could spend few days in the museum alone just to look at artworks. my last visit to Paris is only 2 days, which is absolutely not enough, i just cannot believe i still haven't have chance to go back ever since… lucky i have you to show me the glory of Paris and other towns in it, which i appreciated very much!! :)
Liesl Walsh
Thank you, Orlando, I am so glad this image brings back happy memories for you! No problem about which arc you saw. Actually, this one is a smaller version of the larger Arc de Triomphe which was under construction. I'm sorry you didn't get to see the big one, it was so powerful with all the sculptures and reliefs on it. I have more pics of that one to add to FAA. The one in this photo is next to the Louvre, so hopefully you saw this one when you were in Paris?
Rainbow Artist Orlando L
Because of this image, i realized i have been talking about the wrong arc with you Liesl… i don't think i have ever visited this arc, but i had visited arc de triumph and that was the one under construction when i was in Paris!! lol, silly me! i clearly remember the one i visited are surrounded by road for cars, and this image clearly showed me this arc is sounded by road for humans, so oops i have been tell you wrong info in other images lol… i love this magnificent image!! such a marvellous composition and wonderful capture of those flocks of pigeons!! i remember how much fun i had feeding the pigeons in London and Paris during that trip because i never experience so many of them all over me and my body and it was very memorable for me. this image totally bring back all those happy memories for me!! i wish i can have this experience again within my life time!! L/F
Gerlya Sunshine
What a wonderful street scene in black and white! Love your beautiful composition. L/F
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