The portion of the palace that faces you is the real =front door= of the Louvre. Notice the smaller barred windows on the ground floor, and the upper story converted into a _loggia_. Now pass in through the =gateway=, under the Chariot of the Sun—an Apotheosis of Louis—into the First Court, known distinctively as the =Cour du Louvre=. For all that follows, consult the excellent coloured map in Baedeker, page 86. I advise you to cut it out, and carry it round in your hand during this excursion. Begin by understanding distinctly that this court (le vieux Louvre) is the real and =original Louvre=: the rest is mere excrescence, intended to unite the main building with the Tuileries, which lay some hundreds of yards to the west of it. Notice, first, that the Palace as a whole, seen from the point where you now stand, is constructed on the old principle of relatively blank external walls, like a castle, with an interior courtyard, on which all the apartments open, and almost all the decoration is lavished. Reminiscences of defence lurk about the Louvre. It can best be understood by comparison with such ornate, yet fortress-like, Italian palaces as the Strozzi at Florence. Notice the four opposite portals, facing the cardinal points, which can be readily shut by means of great doors; while the actual doorways of the various suites of apartments open only into the protected courtyard. This is the origin of the familiar French _porte-cochère_. Again, the portion of the building that =directly faces you= as you enter the court from St. Germain is the =oldest part=, and represents the early Renaissance spirit. It is the most primitive Louvre. Note in particular the central elevated portion, known as a _Pavillon_, and graced with elegant Caryatides. These _Pavillons_ are lingering reminiscences of the mediæval towers. You will find them in the corners and centres of other blocks in the Louvre. They form a peculiarly French Renaissance characteristic. The Palace is here growing out of the Castle. The other three sides of the square are, on the whole, more classical and later.