For a complete change of scene, you can always descend to the strange Medieval Louvre section, on the lower ground floor of Sully. The stump of Philippe-Auguste's keep soars up dramatically towards the enormous concrete ceiling like a pillar holding up the entire modern edifice, while vestiges of Charles V's medieval palace walls buttress the edges of the vast chamber. A similar but more intimate effect can be felt in the adjacent Salle St-Louis, with its carved pillars and vaults cut short by the modern roof.To see how Charles V's Louvre used to look, check out the postcards (on sale everywhere) of the October scene from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, a mid-fifteenth century prayer book that depicted some of the great châteaux of the realm. Seen rising behind the high city walls that run along the Seine, the Louvre seems impossibly remote, a strange blend of fairy-tale castle and imposing fortress. In the foreground, peasants are shown ploughing and sowing in the green fields of St-Germain-des-Prés.
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