Today was the last day of the exhibition Angkor, Birth of a Myth- Louis Delaporte and Cambodia at Museum Guimet in Paris. Coincidentally, it was almost one year ago that I visited these ancient temples myself. 
Even if we spent a rather long time (five full days!) in Siem Reap (Eat Drink Sleep Siem Reap (survival guide to Siem Reap) visiting nearby temples, I still felt it was not sufficient to really absorb and understand what had happened in the past. “Who what why when” became more complicated than ever! There were the Hindu Kings, then Buddhism; there were many different empires. To notice architectural details each religion brought to different temples during different times was not always easy, and having a lousy guide did not help. Indeed, it felt very overwhelming to be honest. And maybe this is why I still have not written anything about the Angkor temples (after one year!!).
However, visiting the exhibition this afternoon enlightened me. It was such a great pleasure to see old drawings, photos, maps, paintings, moldings, replicates, etc. that I now feel one step closer to actually being able to write something about this extraordinary UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Meanwhile, have you ever felt the same about a historic or archaeological place somewhere in the world?
More information about the exhibition: http://culturoid.com/2013/10/angkor-birth-of-a-myth-louis-delaporte-and-cambodia-musee-guimet-paris/
Museum Guimet: www.guimet.fr
PS Museum Guimet is an architectural pearl. It hosts one of the best Asian art collections of the world, if not the very best. So pay a visit if interested in Asian art.
pearlspotting 
Sometimes I miss the intensity of history school trips, when we were hustled around from museum to museum armed with an overwhelming amount of worksheets and scrapbooks! 🙂 Another interesting post!
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Thanks Louise. A good comparison I think! I assume that if you grow up in France, there are many museum visits 🙂 I grew up in a small town (in Finland) so no museum visits with school…
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I actually grew up in the Channel Islands 🙂 But taking GCSE and A-Level History meant lots of week long trips scuttling from museum to museum…. getting a year’s worth of museums done in one go! And then I also worked in museums too – obviously addicted to them, haha 🙂
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Do you work in that field now? Is there one specific era, country or theme that interests you?
I am particularly fond of the Ottoman period and love Istanbul. Also, I find the Silk Road counties very interesting (especially the architectural side). And India, wow, what a history (particularly intrigued by the Mughal rule)!
Well, am not a historian like you so these are very general remarks!
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I’m more of a linguist and writer at the moment 🙂 I’m not really a historian as such but have a passion for discovering more about world heritage 🙂 I studied French and German at University so probably know more about these cultures than any others!
I’m particularly interested in Gothic architecture… as well as all things baroque and rococo!
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Good morning:
I´m looking for the author of the first painting in this post, i tried reverse image seacrh but the only result i got is this blog. I hope you can help me! Thank you
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Hi Isaac, sorry I don’t have the author. If you want, why not to contact the museum and refer to this exhibition, maybe they can help you? Good luck!!
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