Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Lot of Louvre

This is my first visit to Paris. Today was my first visit to the Louvre. One museum down, two more to go. We don't think we can do more than one museum per day. More than that is too much. And I will not, will not, will not go to a museum on the weekend. I learned a lesson with the Tate in London - too many people.

We arrived there late morning, probably closer to noon, and there was a huge line with a two hour (!!) wait. We said forget it and decided to try early the next morning. However, around 6:30 pm we were walking by the place again and saw a very small line. As the museum is open until 10 pm on Wednesday nights, we decided to go for it. Fifteen minutes or less wait in line. The museum was hardly crowded. And we were walking around the Louvre at night. It has a very different feeling at night. It was very, very cool.

Observations/impressions...

  • I found the building more impressive than the art. Yes, it is a wonderful collection, certainly one of the best in many ways, but man that building is fantastic. I would go again just to spend more time looking at the ceilings and the different rooms.
  • I have learned from today's experience - always go in the evening!!! Take advantage of that. Or be prepared to wait 2 hours (i.e. be fed, watered and go to the bathroom before you get there).
  • The views out the windows - seeing everything lit up at night - were very cool.
  • Kudos to France for keeping the entry fee reasonable - 6 Euros per person.
  • The Louvre needs water fountains! You can't bring any water in. Sure there is a cafe at the entrance, but most of the time you are very, very far away from there. And there is a heck of a lot of ground to cover. It makes a girl very, very thirsty. Especially if you've just finished drinking a bottle of red wine an hour before you arrived at the museum. Install some water fountains!!
  • Kudos to the Louvre for having a lot of bathrooms all over the place.
  • We had a map. We know how to use a map. It didn't matter. The Louvre is really, really confusing. Different halls, rooms, hallways, corridors, stairs everywhere. It was not easy.
  • Maybe it was because it was night, but the lighting was so low that I could never read anything. It was a painful reminder that my eyes are failing :( .
  • Kudos for having many places to sit and rest and look at the art throughout the museum.
  • The Mona Lisa is more beautiful in person than in photographs.
  • Another nice thing about going in the evenings is that you will see lots of little groups of college students or special groups of adults standing around a piece of art with an enthusiastic, animated expert/teacher telling them all about it. If you know French, you can stop and eavesdrop.
If I lived in Paris I would visit the Louvre a lot.






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