If I could go back in time, I'd like to explore the history of France. History has always fascinated me. It still does, now more than ever since I’ve been living in such an old city. I’ve always wanted to know the who and the what of things. And since moving to Europe – first Munich, then Paris – I’ve immersed myself in history. I can’t seem to get enough. I don’t memorize dates and things like that. I like exploring buildings, locations, and paintings. All the old buildings I see in Paris every day constantly remind me of its incredible history. I walk through a gallery and try to sense that time period - to go back in time in a way. Picasso’s old atelier was just two blocks from my old apartment. I used to walk past it every morning. It’s where he painted “Guernica.” I’d stand outside his atelier – which I think is actually someone’s home now – and tried to “feel” his spirit and his powerful genius. I wanted to get to know him somehow and get some sense of his life, and discover what kind of man he was. Sometimes I also like to walk past Hemingway's old apartment. I look up at the second floor window and imagine him writing "The Sun Also Rises", one of his books that I love so much.

I like going to Paris museums too. Sometimes when I go to the Louvre I stay there for hours just walking from one section to the next and looking, looking, looking. I’m mesmerized by all the magnificent paintings there. The Lourvre has huge rooms for its paintings but it also has little nooks and crannies with smaller paintings and colored pencil drawings-- tiny gems tucked here and there. The pencil drawings really show the artist's flair I think. And they help me feel the artist more closely because they're so rough with fewer details.

The life size paintings make me feel like I could walk right into them. I always sense that I’m looking at real people and they also look back at me. The feeling of being watched is part of the artist’s genius – or is it? They seem so real it’s hard to tell. Is it the artist’s technique or something more elusive? I feel a powerful, compelling energy from the paintings of the great masters. It’s their eyes following me across the room that really get to me. There's one painting of two medieval guys snickering that looks just like some guys I've seen hanging around Paris today. I almost feel like saying "Hey! Wipe that smirk off your face!"

I especially like a certain painting in the French Impressionist section that’s very compelling and fills me with a longing for something I can't quite figure out. It’s a painting of a beautiful young woman called “Orphan Girl at the Cemetery” by Eugene Delacroix. She's a beautiful peasant girl with a very vulnerable expression on her face. She seems to be in great turmoil – but I don’t know why. When I see her I want to go to her as if to a dear friend. I try to get close to her face, to look at every feature, every detail. I want to comfort her and make her feel safe because her eyes tell me she's afraid, and I know what that's like. I look deeply into her eyes and try to memorize every detail about her. I try to understand her and feel her spirit. She always affects me a lot emotionally, no matter how often I've seen her. I feel like she's reaching out to me across time, even though she's not looking at me directly. I know this girl. I’ve shared her feelings. That’s why I feel so close to her. She shows me my pain. 

Here she is in all her loveliness and... anxiety? pain? or something else?....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_Girl_at_the_Cemetery

Also at www.louvre.fr you can see the official Louvre website - pretty cool...
and you can switch it to English!