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The Louvre by Margot Justes

A fortress. A palace. A world renowned museum. The building has a grand and passionate history. Began in the 12th or 13th century, depending upon where you do your research. Suffice it to say, it is old. It has been build upon to keep invaders out, kings in extreme luxury and masterpieces comfortable and lovingly cared for.

The size is astounding, 60,000 square feet, give or take a foot or two, and hosts over 35,000 pieces of art. When I said it was huge, I was not… Continue

Also known as the Winged Victory of Samothrace or Nike of Samothrace-the goddess Nike (meaning Victory in Greek) is an astounding massive piece standing at 328 cm. That’s almost 11 ft from the top of her shoulders to her feet and she’s standing on a ship.

Placed at the center of the landing in the grand Daru staircase in the Louvre, the statue takes your breath away. It is overwhelming in its sheer power, beauty and size.

The Victory made of Parian marble from Paros, Greece, circa 220-190 BC-c… Continue

The Royal Crescent in Bath is an absolutely unique architectural gem, completed in 1774 by John Wood the Younger; it took about 7 years to complete and still today it stands as a perfect semi-elliptical curve about 50 feet high and 500 feet long. It truly is a site to behold; there are 30 attached magnificent houses, among them, one of the most charming, delightful, grandest hotels ever, the Royal Crescent Hotel www.royalcrescent.co.uk
As a heroine would say, it is beautifully situated.

Some su… Continue

I don’t want you to think that I covered everything about the Roman Baths Museum-that is by no means possible in a short blog-the exquisite museum has much, much more to offer-I hope I whetted your appetite just a tiny bit.

As promised, there is more. Right next door to the Roman Baths Museum is the Pump Room, and what a room it is. It was the center of the ton-the social glittery whirl of the best English society-since 1706. It is, for lack of a better explanation a tea room, albeit very grand… Continue

Many years ago, I was in London and took one of those standard day tours to Stonehenge and Bath. I expected to be delighted and see a few things I haven’t yet seen and I expected to learn something new–one of the many reasons I love to travel.

On this trip, the bus rolled along the lovely serene English countryside and the first glimpse of the enormous stones was surreal. They are magnificent, and back then you could actually go up close and personal as the saying goes. We reached Bath and had… Continue