seeking honeymoon travel advice - february - france, italy and switzerland

In ,
Rita typed:

On 28 Dec 2004 15:03:06 -0800, wrote:

"Wonderful as much of what's in the Louvre is, it's not among
my
favorites, because it's so huge, and there's so much there
that's
of great historical interest, but not necessarily of great
artistic interest."

The key to getting a lot out of the Louvre is to not try and
see
everything (which would be impossible anyway), and instead just
pick
out a few galleries that interest you and focus on those.

For someone with only a minor interest in art, I'd recommend
seeing
the second floor of the Musee D'Orsay, and then the "Large
French
Paintings" and "Italian" galleries of the Louvre. That will
take you
to many of the greatest works of European art without
overwhelming you
with hundreds of things you're not particularly interested in.


I always look for the Winged Victory of Samathrace, the
Michelangelo
sculptures, and some of the Egyptian collection. There is a
lot of
second class French art at the Louvre -- in my opinion.


I think that virtually every museum in the world has a
significant amount of second-class art, and the bigger it is, the
more second-class art it will have. I don't mean that as a
complaint; I think it's the nature of museums. If you collect
French art, you get everything you can by the major French
artists. But unfortunately, even the greatest artists didn't
produce masterpieces every time they touched brush to canvas.

It amazes me that the Uffizi has so little that I would consider
second-class. But then it's much smaller, and I have no idea
what's in their archives that you don't normally get to see when
you visit. All museums have much more than they can show at any
time; I assume that the Uffizi is no exception, and that some of
what they have in storage is also second-class.

I remember visiting the Rijkmuseum, loving the Dutch stuff, but
being very disappointed by the Italian works that they had. I
assume they felt that to be a world-class museum, they needed to
have some of everything, but the only Italian paintings they
seemed to have gotten were those that nobody else wanted. It was
many years ago, but I remember feeling that as much as I liked
the museum, I would have liked it even better if they had stuck
to what their collection was best at, and didn't try to have some
of everything.

--
Ken Blake
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In ,
randee typed:

And if it were me, I might spend the whole time in Interlaken
and
environs (Zermatt/Chur/Scuol). And my wife would spend the
whole time
in Paris........
And neither of us would bother with Venice or Rome on a first
trip.
Venice is too damp and not worth more than a couple hours in
our
estimation, and although the classical Roman remains and
monuments are
quite interesting I don't think I would do Rome on a honeymoon
trip
unless both have quite an interest in Roman archeology.


This is a good example of the point I was making. We all have
different interests and different likes and dislikes. And that's
why nobody's advice is much use. You need to pick what *you*
like.



Ken Blake wrote:



If it were *me*, making the decision for myself, and starting
with your list of places, I'd probably spend ten days in Paris
and ten in Venice. Or--you mention Rome (my personal
favorite)--perhaps a week each in Rome, Venice, and Paris. But
that's me, and reflects my (and my wife's) interests. It may
not

In news Rita typed:

On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 19:37:07 -0700, "Ken Blake"
wrote:


I think that virtually every museum in the world has a
significant amount of second-class art, and the bigger it is,
the
more second-class art it will have. I don't mean that as a
complaint; I think it's the nature of museums. If you collect
French art, you get everything you can by the major French
artists. But unfortunately, even the greatest artists didn't
produce masterpieces every time they touched brush to canvas.

This is, of course, true. But you know, it doesn't bother me
unduly because if I can view even half a dozen great works in
any museum I feel I have had a good day.


Same here. I'll even settle for one great work.

But in terms of comparing one museum with another (which is how
this sub-thread got started), I personally prefer a museum like
the Uffizi, with a very high proportion of masterpieces on its
walls, to a larger one like the Louvre, which to me has a much
lower percentage of masterpieces on its walls.

Again, that's a personal view, and I can readily understand that
others may look at it very differently.

--
Ken Blake
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MandK wrote:

Any idea on how
far is tirano from our next destination Venice?

The easy way: Tirano to Milano, Milano to Venice, I'd guess about 6/7
hours.

There are shorter itineraries involving local railways, but they involve
several connections to local trains and would take forever.


--
Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail:
Home page: http://www.angelfire.com/ar/archivarius
(musicologia pratica)

Ken Blake wrote:

It amazes me that the Uffizi has so little that I would consider
second-class. But then it's much smaller, and I have no idea
what's in their archives that you don't normally get to see when
you visit. All museums have much more than they can show at any
time; I assume that the Uffizi is no exception, and that some of
what they have in storage is also second-class.

The real problem with Uffizi is that they have little space, and some
things in storage are first-class as well. You could make a world class
museum with the Uffizi archives.


--
Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail:
Home page: http://www.angelfire.com/ar/archivarius
(musicologia pratica)

Luca Logi wrote:

The real problem with Uffizi is that they have little space, and some
things in storage are first-class as well. You could make a world class
museum with the Uffizi archives.

How can we talk about the works in any museum and not talk about the
viewing conditions? The MONA LISA and the restored works in the Uffizi
are a prime examples of paintings being ruined by their popularity. Who
can appreciate Michaelangelo's TONDO when it is under a two-inch thick
slab of plexiglass? The reflections on the plexiglass and the
distortions of color spoil the art. I haven't been to the Louvre in a
long time, so I don't know if other paintings have acquired protection,
(although probably to a lesser degree than MONA LISA) but the Uffizi is
filled with such works. Although I understand the real-world reasons for
these lamentable additions, I am depressed the need exists.

I don't think the original poster would want to spend most of his
touring time in art museums, but, at least, he has the right instinct to
visit during off peak season so he can get the most out of the time he
does spend in art museums.

Karen Selwyn

"/rist" wrote in :


OTOH, there are plenty mountaintops to be ascended around Luzern.
Going up the Junfrau is very expensive. There are lots of other places
that offer a similar experience for a lot less money.

One such being Mt Pilates visible from Lucerne. (and the town is drop
dead gorgeous)

Krist

"/rist" wrote in :


OTOH, there are plenty mountaintops to be ascended around Luzern.
Going up the Junfrau is very expensive. There are lots of other places
that offer a similar experience for a lot less money.

One such being Mt Pilates visible from Lucerne. (and the town is drop
dead gorgeous)

Krist

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:41:34 +0100, (Luca Logi) wrote:

MandK wrote:

Any idea on how
far is tirano from our next destination Venice?

The easy way: Tirano to Milano, Milano to Venice, I'd guess about 6/7
hours.

There are shorter itineraries involving local railways, but they involve
several connections to local trains and would take forever.

Taking the local train from Milan to Venice adds an extra 20 mins to a
3 hour journey, but costs about half the price. Worth it in my books!
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

In ,
Luca Logi typed:

Ken Blake wrote:

It amazes me that the Uffizi has so little that I would
consider
second-class. But then it's much smaller, and I have no idea
what's in their archives that you don't normally get to see
when
you visit. All museums have much more than they can show at
any
time; I assume that the Uffizi is no exception, and that some
of
what they have in storage is also second-class.

The real problem with Uffizi is that they have little space,
and some
things in storage are first-class as well. You could make a
world
class museum with the Uffizi archives.


That's every museum's problem. Nobody has enough space.

Have you been fortunate to see some of what's in storage? How did
you manage that?


--
Ken Blake
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