Visit to the Louvre

Today, for my History of Paris class, we went to the Louvre. My history prof told us all about the 670 years that it took to build, from the original fortress built to protect the city to the destruction of the Tuilieries palace that makes it how you can see it today. It was really cool to hear all of the history.
Whenever a king started a new part, he put some sort of emblem with his initials indicating that he was in charge of that part of construction. The one to the left is that of Henri II. You can see it in between the columns at the top. I thought this was funny because the emblem is a combination of an H, a C, and a D. The H stands for Henri II, the C stands for Catherine de'Medeci who was his wife, and the D stands for Diane de Poitiers who was his mistress. I just thought it was funny how kings could do whatever they wanted with no consequences. It's just funny because it's recognized.
Anyway, the history of the building is simply amazing. You can actually tell the difference between certain parts of the building built at different times, despite the fact that they were constructed all in the same style in order to keep it uniform in structure. It's gorgeous.
Our prof even told a story about Henri IV. He loved his sons a lot and wanted to amuse them. So once, he arranged to have a fox hunt in the largest gallery of the Palace. The gallery stretched more than 100 meters along the Seine. The fox hunt was complete with men riding the horses, dogs, and arrows. I don't remember exactly what happened but, of course, something went wrong with my idea. To end the story, my professor said, "Due to this accident, of course, there was never again a fox hunt inside the Palace." What a crazy idea. Once again, kings doing whatever they want. What craziness. Yes, these are the things that I am learning here....totally worth it!!

Love,
French Amy