We started our day early to visit the Louvre. It's closed on Tuesdays (yesterday) and the crowds on Wednesday are supposed to be heavy. The sky was a little overcast but we were prepared for it this time. We stopped by for our croissant breakfast, as usual. I spoke with the woman totally in French and she answered me in French. It was a brief conversation but the first time that someone didn't switch to English. Not that it was detailed, but it was a start.
We went to have our morning view of the Tour Eiffel and snap a few daily photos. Our best cross town bet is Bus #69 so we caught it at the first stop on avenue Joseph Bouvard. Again, it was amazing to watch the driver navigate the narrow and crowded rue de Grenelle. We rode for a while until we crossed the Seine and got off at the Louvre stop.
As we rounded the building, the pyramid burst into view, surrounded by the huge palace. Kalen stayed in the long line while I went to ask one of the staff about the line for the "Museum Pass Holders." Yes, I started this in French, but he was very anxious to practice his English, so I kindly switched for him. He pointed us in the right direction, I waved for Kalen to follow, and off we went to a much, much shorter line. It amazes me that people don't find that it is better to pay for the passes than to spend so much time in line. (Thank you, Coco. This was GREAT advice.)
Kalen and I both had the Rick Steves Louvre tour on iPods (because we were very cool and prepared.) We followed the tour through Denon wing. This took us through the Greek and Roman sections. Venus de Milo was an awesome experience as no one else was in the room and we could take photos without all of those tourists hanging around. Winged Victory stood alone at the top of stairs, which was very dramatic.
We moved through the Medieval period and into the Italian Renaissance. And, there she was, surrounded by global admirers...Mona Lisa. Everyone says that the painting is smaller than they thought that it would be. I actually expected it to be about 8.5 x 11, so I was surprised and remarked "Gee, it's much larger than I thought that it would be." The response was as expected. We continued the tour and saw a lot of paintings and sculpture. Great time. We called it a day (for the Louvre), agreeing that if we had some extra time that we would come back again.
We went to have our morning view of the Tour Eiffel and snap a few daily photos. Our best cross town bet is Bus #69 so we caught it at the first stop on avenue Joseph Bouvard. Again, it was amazing to watch the driver navigate the narrow and crowded rue de Grenelle. We rode for a while until we crossed the Seine and got off at the Louvre stop.
As we rounded the building, the pyramid burst into view, surrounded by the huge palace. Kalen stayed in the long line while I went to ask one of the staff about the line for the "Museum Pass Holders." Yes, I started this in French, but he was very anxious to practice his English, so I kindly switched for him. He pointed us in the right direction, I waved for Kalen to follow, and off we went to a much, much shorter line. It amazes me that people don't find that it is better to pay for the passes than to spend so much time in line. (Thank you, Coco. This was GREAT advice.)Kalen and I both had the Rick Steves Louvre tour on iPods (because we were very cool and prepared.) We followed the tour through Denon wing. This took us through the Greek and Roman sections. Venus de Milo was an awesome experience as no one else was in the room and we could take photos without all of those tourists hanging around. Winged Victory stood alone at the top of stairs, which was very dramatic.
We moved through the Medieval period and into the Italian Renaissance. And, there she was, surrounded by global admirers...Mona Lisa. Everyone says that the painting is smaller than they thought that it would be. I actually expected it to be about 8.5 x 11, so I was surprised and remarked "Gee, it's much larger than I thought that it would be." The response was as expected. We continued the tour and saw a lot of paintings and sculpture. Great time. We called it a day (for the Louvre), agreeing that if we had some extra time that we would come back again.
3 comments:
I love your blog!!!
Did you counted the panels on the crystal pyramid? Or verified any of the details in the DaVinci Code book?
: )
I just figure that there were a LOT of panels. Would you have to count the two little ones on the side too? I wanted to go down to where ever the secret place was under the pyramid (from the book) but we didn't have a chance.
I warned you it was a Huge Museum ...so much to go through.
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