Astronomy fans can follow the medallions from the Louvre to an observatory
If you haven’t had a chance to watch Episode 2: Museum Secrets: Inside the Louvre - there’s still time! It airs again tonight, Saturday January 15, on History Television at 7pm ET/PT, and as usual, the entire episode is available online. We also have plenty of exclusive interactive web content and videos on the episode page.
Here are some insider tips* for your next trip to the Louvre.
*Insider Tips provided by Louvre episode director, David New.
If you’re into astronomy, follow the medallions from the Louvre to an observatory
“In the movie “The Da Vinci Code” you see Tom Hanks following medallions set in the pavement over to the pyramid at the Louvre. They cheated the positions of the medallions slightly in the movie, but they really are there. They run all the way through Paris, marking the North-South meridian that was used in France before everyone eventually settled on the Greenwich meridian. There are two inside the Louvre, but one is in a service closet so you can’t see it unless a staff person happens to go in. You can more easily find a few outside. There’s one in the archway that faces the pyramid from the North, one just behind the fountain that surrounds the pyramid, and another a bit farther back and over towards to the south side of the courtyard. If you stand on that one and look up towards the wall, you will see the statue of Cassini, the astronomer who was the first director of the Paris Observatory, which was built on the meridian when they first established it. And if you are really into astronomy, you can follow the medallions for another mile or two south and visit the observatory itself.”
One of the 135 medallions from the "Hommage à Arago" monument in Paris scattered along the Paris meridian in the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 9th, 14th and 18th ''arrondissements'. This one is located near the Louvre pyramid. *Source: photographed in 2005: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arago_medallion_Paris.jpg
When to visit
“It gets very crowded at the Louvre. Go early, and go immediately all the way to the back on the top floor, and you might get a little time to enjoy looking in relative peace. You can always go see the famous stuff later, those rooms will be busy all day.”
Here’s a great place for a walk
“Take a walk through the Cour Carre at dusk. It is a quiet and beautiful spot when the museum is closed, and sometimes there are classical musicians busking in the archways.”
One startling painting you must see
“Among the works by Leonardo da Vinci in the Great Gallery near the entrance to the room with the Mona Lisa, is a painting I had never seen before: a strange image of John the Baptist, as a young man, emerging from darkness. I found it a startling painting, maybe because I wasn’t familiar with it, but I think it’s pretty amazing.”
Go beyond the walls of the Louvre
“Henri IV was assassinated a short walk away from the Louvre, on Rue de la Ferronerie. He cared about the poorest of his subjects; he was the first to promise a chicken in every pot, or in French, “La Poule au Pot.” If you want, you can order “La Poule au Pot” in his honour at the restaurant of the same name, right nearby at 9, rue Vauvilliers. It’s kind of plain fare, and there’s a lot of it - you might want to split an order.”
