junk4rp

We will be in Paris following our trip in London. In the interest of time , which one should we see? Since we cannot see everything in either of these museums, we intend to use the spare time on another display in stead of seeing Egypt display in both.

Thanks,
RP

junk4rp

By mistake I chose "Finland" as the tag. Is there anyway, I can change it to "France"?

koryn

The British Museum - in my opinion. I just got back from Egypt though and if you're at all interested in Egyptian artifacts THE place to go is the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

LoisL

I missed this exhibit at the Louvre, but saw a spectacular one in the British Museum. I would allow time for this museum while in London.

fcuklp

In case the entrance fee is needed for consideration, British Museum is free, Lourve requires a ticket.

sassy_cat

British Museum would be my pick and I've been to both.

Cholmondley_Warner

The British museum does what the British always do to the French – beats them hollow.

No one is as good at thieving as we Brits. We nick everything.

Plus the BM has some interactive stuff which is very good.

junk4rp

@koryn: Have you seen the one in Louvre? In another forum, someone mentioned the Egypt dispaly in louvre is best in the world after Cairo!

@fcuklp: Well, I am doing both the Louvre and British museum. However trying to priorotize where to sepnd time in each museum.

@sassy_cat: So, in your openion the Louvre one was not as impressive as the British Museum one!

Thanks everyone. Please let me know your openion if you have seen both.

Jay_G

I've seen both and would have to say that out of the two, I'd make the time to see the display in the British Museum.

Whilst I found the Louvre display impressive, I found the British Museum display almost incredible and have spent many a lunch hour wandering around it. The scale of some of the pieces is astonishing and of course there's the Rosetta Stone.

British Museum hands down for me.

LoisL

I did laugh at Cholmondley's comment about the Brits being the best at pilferrring.......... my thought exactly as I admired the Greek Parthanon [Pantheon?] as there is more of it in this museum than in Greece, along with many other artifacts from across the planet! It is an amazing exhibit, but a good part of me thought it was astounding that these things were still in Britain, and not returned to their 'home' countries. Isn't Cleopatra there as well? The Roseta stone was something else I was impressed with.

flanneruk

"a good part of me thought it was astounding that these things were still in Britain, and not returned to their 'home' countries."

So what IS the home country of the Elgin Marbles?

The country forced at swordpoint to pay the taxes that paid for their carving (Turkey)?
The country (Britain)that's looked after them for the 200 years in which Greece has so polluted itself practically every carving on the Acropolis that we've not been looking after's been ruined?
Or the country that invaded Turkey, wiped its inhabitants out, then forced the colonists it sent there to pay a hokey tax that Athens used exclusively to tart itself up with?

We'll happily send the Marbles back to the country that paid for them. But Greece has this belief that theft constitutes ownership, so insists they should go to the country that stole them first

And of course, unlike Greece, we paid for them.

Underhill

I think the exhibitions in both museums are excellent, but if you don't read French the displays in the Louvre can be a problem. The Louvre, however, has a few pieces that are worth a special trip, such as the small statue of Osiris (painted on wood)that can occasionally, and with a lot of luck regarding guards' break hours, be seen in the underground section with the immense sarcophagus.

sassy_cat

Yes, I agree with Underhill but if I had to choose one I'd pick the British Museum.
The Louvre gallery felt more cramped too partly because it was full of French schoolkids sketching when I visited but also because the displays seem crowded.

HappyTrvlr

The British Museum..plus it's free!

lmhornet

This flanneruk is not only seriously deluded, but hasn't a clue about history. How could turkey, which didn't even exit until the 20th century have to do with the Elgin Marbles? The Turks didn't even appear until a millenium and half after the the Parthenon was built. Even then, the Turks just blew p the place, albeit accidentally.

The simple fact is that the Elgin Marbles were design and built by Greeks for a Greek building that is 2500 years old and still standing.

It's the Brits who raped much of the world to pay for their buildings, not the Greeks.

poutine

It has been a couple of years, but we all preferred the exhibit in the British Museum (like most others it seems).

koryn

Yes - Have seen both and my vote goes to the British Museum. As discussed here, the "real" Rosetta stone is in the British Museum while a copy is in the Egyptian Museum. There are so many examples like this that we heard about while on our tour in Egypt. Our Egyptologists' favorite expression was (whatever artificat was missing) "is suffering homesickness in the British Museum (or the Louvre, etc)"! It's sad that so many of Egypts' treasures are elsewhere.

junk4rp

History is an intresting subject. It is hard to learn without being jugdemental... however at this time I am interested to just see and learn.

I am feeling that the egypt display in British Museum is more ineteresting.

BTW, can someone give a comparision of the greece display between the two museums?

Cholmondley_Warner

The British Museum has the Elgin Marbles. The Louvre the winged victory of Samothrace. So it's the BM again innit.

LoisL

It was the Greece display that really impacted me the most, when I visited. It also created quite a discussion, wondering how these things were transported, 'back in the day'.......... When you see the size and scope, you will know what I mean.