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…
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Added by Margot Justes on April 12, 2009 at 12:54am —
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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…
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Added by Margot Justes on April 5, 2009 at 2:40am —
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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…
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Added by Margot Justes on February 1, 2009 at 9:32am —
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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…
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Added by Margot Justes on January 19, 2009 at 2:43am —
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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…
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Added by Margot Justes on January 12, 2009 at 10:46am —
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The New Year is upon us-nothing like stating the obvious-and I try to stay away from resolutions, since they do not last long, so what is the point. But, the one resolution I fully intend to adhere to is writing and this is a no brainer since I love to write.
What’s not to love, total solitude in my own little haven, no pesky phone, no television, just me, my computer and words on paper well at least on the screens, but sometimes on paper. I have a comfy couch where I do occasionally write on a…
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Added by Margot Justes on January 4, 2009 at 5:43am —
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I have not turned my computer on in several days-I spent time with family and friends. Our annual party was a success, but plans for my time at home veered off course-snow, a lot of snow and I’m a coward when it comes to driving or for that matter, riding in a car when there is ice overlaid by snow. It was a perfect winter wonderland scene, huge snow flakes gently falling on an already white canvas. Best appreciated in a warm, comfortable home, while sipping eggnog with a touch of rum.
We had p…
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Added by Margot Justes on December 28, 2008 at 4:36am —
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The holiday season is fast approaching and I noticed in my own every day life that the pressure to finish everything is on. There is the shopping, baking, cooking and cleaning to get the house ready for our annual get together with friends and family, and of course my day job; the one that actually provides a regular pay check.
But there is also the life of the writer and the functions that have be attended to get my name out there-where ever out there is.
Today was just such a day. The early…
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Added by Margot Justes on December 15, 2008 at 3:02am —
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I missed last week’s blog, another one of those weekends where real life took over, and I wound up with a miserable cold-which leads me to this blog.
I actually spent some time watching TV-one show-CSI Miami-I was asked to watch because my daughter (the scientist) actually participated in the research for one of the instruments they used; brand new, very exciting research with incredible potential, desorption electrospray ionization or DESI for short.
The instrument can identify and find finge…
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Added by Margot Justes on December 7, 2008 at 10:07am —
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You never know when a simple sale will lead to greater exposure. This summer I participated in the Frontier Days in Arlington Heights, IL. along with June Sproat and Morgan Mandel; we sold our books to a woman who was chairperson of a book club, and she asked us to speak at one of their meetings.
I have spoken at a couple book clubs and expected eight to ten people to attend. The event was held at a lovely country club and we were asked to stay for lunch, so I was looking forward to a small int…
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Added by Margot Justes on November 23, 2008 at 5:06am —
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Last week I read a blog-wish I could remember where-about the status of publishing. It is in trouble just like the rest of the businesses around the world.
The author of the above mentioned blog simply stated that if we each bought a book for this holiday season, we would have a tremendous impact on the publishing world and the domino effect of the economy-all the people in the periphery-from the printer to the stocker to ink and paper manufacturers-you get the drift.
I, for one think it is an…
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Added by Margot Justes on November 16, 2008 at 4:12am —
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My blogs are usually light and written so I may keep in touch with readers, writers and maybe a fan or two. This week will be a bit different.
A friend suffered a devastating loss and frankly I don’t know how to help except to be there for her when and if needed.
Often when faced with a tragedy we mourn, that goes without saying, we lose a bit of self and we question the existence of everything; because the loss is so great, so incredibly unimaginable and terrible.
I’m using the royal ‘we’ si…
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Added by Margot Justes on November 9, 2008 at 2:58am —
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I had a signing in a delightful independent book store in Ottawa, Illinois called the Book Mouse-bookmouse.org
They did not have a mouse, but they did have a real live kitten; seven months old with a mischievous glint in his eye and an appetite for pretzels. He had the run of the place and took full advantage, his favorite perch on top of the tall book case allowed him to view his domain...
To keep the kitten company, another critter, a chinchilla with an affinity for pumpkin seeds. Stairs fro…
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Added by Margot Justes on November 2, 2008 at 4:44am —
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I had the pleasure of attending an Author Fair at the Joliet Public Library. No idea what to expect, nevertheless, I was prepared, books and promo material was all I needed. Once I walked in, I was very well taken care of; a smiling staff member showed me to my table; my name in a frame and balloons on said table made for a very pleasant welcome.
It was an unusual format, tables were set up everywhere in the library, every corner, every empty space was occupied. It allowed the people to browse…
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Added by Margot Justes on October 5, 2008 at 12:26pm —
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A new anthology from Echelon Press-Missing- is scheduled to debut at Bouchercon in Baltimore, MD next month.
Many wonderful writers, among them our own ACME author Norm Cowie donated a short story. All the stories have a common link-a missing person, and royalties are being donated to charity.
In 2007 they were over 800,000 people who disappeared- are missing-that is a staggering number. Hopefully our efforts will leave a mark-it is a step in the right direction.
The idea came from Amy Alessi…
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Added by Margot Justes on September 14, 2008 at 3:13am —
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I have missed the last couple of weeks-family events and a trip to Decatur, GA for a book festival-pretty much took care of the two weekends.
The good thing about promoting A Hotel in Paris is that I get to travel, so for this blog, I want to get back to travel agencies. When I travel promoting the above mentioned book, I have specific locations already selected. So it’s easy for me to book the hotel and flight all by myself.
However, picking a vacation destination is another matter. Sometimes…
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Added by Margot Justes on September 7, 2008 at 7:22am —
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I am somewhat-well-really greatly-out of my depth or altitude here. I went to my local travel agency, Suburban Travel in Glenview, IL; more about the travel agency later.
At any rate, I was going to post a couple travel tips for people going to Europe. In the process I found out that sub-orbital travel is quickly becoming a reality, as in 2010 reality-flights have already been booked and paid for.
That is amazing, exciting and many other ‘ing’s’ I cannot think of at the moment. The plan is to…
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Added by Margot Justes on August 17, 2008 at 6:31am —
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I missed the blog last Saturday, was in San Francisco for the Romance Writers of America National Conference. I was a tourist, one of my favorite things to do. The hotel was well situated, right up the street from Union Square-perfect location.
I love to walk, and walk I did…from the hotel to China Town, to Little Italy, to Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, to chocolate square otherwise know as Ghirardelli Square and finally to the trolley stop for the ride back.
I knew I was tired, when I notice…
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Added by Margot Justes on August 10, 2008 at 9:21am —
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You may think I have a theme in mind-in fact I do, it is after all summer and tourist are on the road.
As you can see below, my novel is set in Paris and if you are lucky enough to be going to that spectacular city this summer and happen to love architecture, there is no better place to start than Paris.
Gothic architecture does not come any better than Notre Dame, the flying buttresses abound, and the Sunday peel can be heard for miles. Notre Dame is one of many truly memorable sites, for a s…
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Added by Margot Justes on July 27, 2008 at 9:28am —
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It is summer, and many tourists will flock to Paris. There are no bad times in which to visit this magnificent city, but summer seems to be the season of choice.
To avoid the tourist crush, I prefer anytime but summer; to be able to capture and breathe the sensations of this captivating city in relative peace.
The cafes are a lifestyle, slow, easy…relaxing; the continuous rush of the life glides by, while you sit in a café and enjoy that marvelous cup.
Visit the famous Café De La Paix, sit do…
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Added by Margot Justes on July 13, 2008 at 1:29am —
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