The Louvre is Second Best to My Instagram Feed

Last Saturday, the Pari$ian Girls: Haley, Abby, Simreen, Natalie and I, all decided to venture across new waters and see the city of love. Paris, Texas. If you didn't know Paris, Texas, has many famous attractions. While there, I explored one of the most renowned, prolific galleries- The Louvre, wandered through the underground catacombs, and basked in the glory of the Eiffel Tower. 

Okay, so I'm gonna cut the joke because it's not actually that funny; we went to Paris, France. I would never go to Paris, Texas. 
The Louvre was incredible. Unspeakable in certain parts, actually. While it might be considered to enumerate my favorite pieces in the Louvre, I'm going to do it anyways because I don't care about being called a philistine. Winged Victory of Samothrace, a statue of Parisian and Rhodian marble, stood 5 meters tall. Greek gods represented concepts such as peace, fortune, vengeance, and passion- Victory was one of the first incarnates. Standing on the prow of the ship, she overlooked the island of Samothrace with pride and virtue. Her tactile stance the and artful draping of her garments show that the statue was not only made to honor Nike, but also the battles fought on the sea. It is argued (and I will argue it) that Nike of Samothrace is one of the finest Hellenistic sculptures in history. 

Now, something that I literally geeked out over- The Code of Hammurabi. The ancient Babylonian law stood high on a pedestal, illuminated by backlight to show off the carvings in its black diorite. Fashioned by the Babylonian King Hammurabi, the compendium of 282 laws set standards of justice for his ancient Mesopotamian empire. This seven-foot-tale set of scriptural rules shaped the way ancient civilizations were governed. 

The code included many gruesome and bizarre forms of punishment. Most were made in the name of retaliation. Laws were made according to gender and social class. For example, if a man killed a pregnant "servant-maid" he would face a monetary fine, but if  he were to kill a pregnant "free woman", a woman of a higher social class, his daughter would be killed in retribution. 
Fun fact, these rules weren't discovered and interpreted until the 20th century by architects and scholars. 

Paris was fun, albeit I had an absolutely horrible time flying home. But the Louvre and its art made it more than worth it. 

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