Col GKS Reddy Coins: VISIT TO EUROPE - FRANCE - PARIS

CHAPPIDI ABHIRATH REDDY
C/O COL GKS REDDY

Secunderabad - 500015

Visit to Paris

Visited Paris from 07 Sep to 10 Sepn2013. Reached St Pancras International Railway Station, London by 0700h on 07 Sep 2013. After mandatory Immigration and Security checks, we boarded Eurostar High speed Train to Paris, which was scheduled to depart for Paris Nord Station at 0750h. Reached Paris Nord at 1030h Paris Time, took a connecting Tube to St Montparnasse Station and Checked into Hotel Pullman Montparnasse, where we were allotted a room on the 19th Floor. Had early Lunch and went to visit Louvre Museum.

Eurostar

Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel.

The London terminus is St Pancras International, with the other British calling points being Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International in Kent. Calling points in France are Calais-Fréthun and Lille-Europe, with trains to Paris terminating at Gare du Nord. Trains to Belgium terminate at Midi/Zuid station in Brussels. In addition, there are limited services from London to Disneyland Paris at Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy, and to seasonal destinations in southern France in summer and the Alps in winter.

The service is operated by eighteen-coach Class 373/1 trains which run at up to 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) on a network of high-speed lines. The LGV Nord line in France opened before Eurostar services began in 1994, and newer lines enabling faster journeys were added later—HSL 1 in Belgium and High Speed 1 in southern England.

Arriving at St Pancras International Railway Station

Moving to Eurostar Platform

On Reaching Eurostar Train

Standing in front of the Eurostar Coach

Sirisha Reddy, my Second Daughter and my Guide for Paris Visit at Eurostar

Inside Eurostar Train

On arrival at the Reception of Hotel Pullman Montparnasse

At the Lounge of Hotel Pullman Montparnasse

Outside Hotel Pullman Montparnasse, before moving to Louvre Museum

Louvre Museum-Paris

The Musée du Louvre (French pronunciation: [myze dy luvʁ])—in English, the Louvre Museum or simply The Louvre—is one of the world's largest museums, and an historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, France, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement (district). Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet). With more than 8 million visitors each year, the Louvre is the world's most visited museum.

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which began as a fortress built in the late 12th century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682,Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces.

The quality of photographs is not good, due to controlled light condition inside the Museum and Prohibition on use of FLASH to prevent damage to the Exhibits.

Entrance to Louvre Palace

Glass Pyramid at the Entry to Louvre Museum (Located in the courtyard of Louvre Palace)

Another External view of the Pyramid

View from inside the Pyramid

Painting of Monalisa - The most famous painting at Louvre Museum

Sirisha Reddy near Monalisa Painting

Italian Paintings

Italian Painter Paolo Caliari's Painting - Les Noces de Cana (The wedding Feast)

Vittore Carpaccio's Painting - Jerusalem

Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio's Painting - Chapel of Santa Maria Della

A view of Italian Paintings Gallery at Louvre Museum

Domenico Mecarino's (Beccafumi) Painting

Epoque Imperial Vase

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri's Painting - Hersilie Separant Romulus et

Spanish Paintings

Spanish Painter Juan Carreno de Miranda's Painting

Foundation Mass of the Order of Trinitarians - 1665

Spanish Painter Sir Thomas Lawrence's Painting

African Sculptures & Wood Carvings

A Tribal Wood Carving from Africa

A Sand Stone Sculpture from Africa

A Wood Carving from Africa

A Carving from Africa

Tribal Sculptures from Africa

French Paintings

Prise de Constantinople by Eugene Delacroise

Nepoleon Bonaparte at Franchissant les Alpes by Paul Delaroche

Officer de Chasseurs - Cheval de la Garde by Theodore Gericault

Antique Sculptures from Italian & French Princely Collections

Antique Sculptures from Italian & French Princely collections

Borghese collections

Throne d'un Pretre de Bacchus (Throne from Bacchus Vatican Collection

Another view of the Throne

Statue of Emperor Tibere (From Vatican Collections)

Michelangelo Buonarroti's Captif Sculpture

Another view of Michelangelo Sculptures

Another Sculpture from the Borghese Collections

Greek Antiques

Aphrodite (Known as Venus de Milo)

Another View of Venus de Milo

The Male Nude Statue

Classical Athena (Godess Minerva)

Another View of Godess Minerva (Along with my daughter Sirisha Reddy)

Statue of Athena (Godess Minerva) found in the Palace of Velletri in 1797

Statue of Artemis ( Diane)

A closer view of Artemis (Diane)

Four Statues erected as pillars at the Exit of Greek Section

Egyptian Section

Statue of King Ramesses II

Another View of King Ramesses II

La Chapelle d' Ounsou ( Unsu and his wife Imenhetep 1450 BC - 18th Dynasty)

Another view of Sandstone Statue of Unsu and his Wife

Mesopotamia Section

Taureau Andrpcephale Aile (Human headed Winged Bull)

Left - Heros Maitrisant Un Lion (Hero overpowering a Lion)

Le Roi Sargon II Et Un Haut Dignitaire (King Sargon II with a Dignitary)

Human Headed Winged Bulls at the Entrance of Mesopotamia Section

Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian law code, dating back to about 1772 BC. It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code, and partial copies exist on a human-sized stone stele and various clay tablets. The Code consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments, adjusting "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (lex talionis) as graded depending on social status, of slave versus free man.

Nearly one-half of the Code deals with matters of contract, establishing, for example, the wages to be paid to an ox driver or a surgeon. Other provisions set the terms of a transaction, establishing the liability of a builder for a house that collapses, for example, or property that is damaged while left in the care of another. A third of the code addresses issues concerning household and family relationships such as inheritance, divorce, paternity and sexual behavior. Only one provision appears to impose obligations on an official; this provision establishes that a judge who reaches an incorrect decision is to be fined and removed from the bench permanently. A handful of provisions address issues related to military service.