I visited The Louvre yesterday, while Sue and Riley headed off to a historic church and some shopping. The Louvre is the world’s largest and most visited museum, and from the lines yesterday I’m not surprised!
That photo shows a tiny portion of the building and the famous glass pyramid which is over the main entrance. The museum has five floors and over 650,000 square feet of displays. I was there about 4 hours, and probably saw only a sixth of what is on display.
The building itself is marvelous! Opened over 200 years ago, many of its halls are lavishly decorated themselves including sculptural elements and intricate painting on walls and ceilings.
So of course The Louvre is world famous for one particular painting it has on display: The Mona Lisa. I arrived at opening and shuffled over to see it (which is a healthy distance from the entrance) so as to beat the crowds:
What you don’t see are the dozens of other people jostling and beating people with their selfie sticks to get close enough for an unimpeded shot 🙂
Incidentally I’m getting a bit of a cold, probably due to exhaustion after such a strenuous trip. Even though I gave it my biggest smile above, I was really dragging myself along yesterday!
That’s Aphrodite, or ‘Venus di Milo’, another extremely famous work on display in the museum.
Those are photos of the Napoleonic apartments, which have been preserved in the museum. There are also dozens and dozens of rooms displaying the day-to-day items of the French nobility from 200 years ago. This section of the museum alone is bigger than most other museums.
As I said earlier, I was feeling exhausted and only stayed for about four hours. I enjoyed the museum, but the crowds were frustrating and it became overwhelming once the they began to swell around noon. I returned to the hotel for a much needed nap!
Later in the evening we reunited for a river cruise and then a quick trip back to the tower for some night shots. It’s very pretty with the lights on 🙂
Today’s our last full day here in Paris and we’re visiting Versailles palace. Here’s hoping I don’t collapse from exhaustion!
The photo of you near the Mona Lisa in the Louvre is more impressive than her. She is a bit sulky where you are full of happiness and joy. I have never really been a fan of the painting as there are more beautiful works of art depicting women.