It was always a given that we would visit the Louvre while we were in Paris. The Louvre was once the king’s palace, and it’s impossible to describe how large the building is. Part of one floor is for administration and most of one wing is an art school. We had a three-hour private tour (one other couple and us) of the Louvre and, even excluding the offices and the school, we couldn’t describe three hours as a good start. It was more like we made it through the door. The guide said there are 30 km of exhibition halls–about five miles–and there are more articles in storage than on display. We saw mostly major works of art as our introduction to the exhibits in the Louvre. The building itself is impressive, and it gave me a little quiver to know that I was looking at the original Mona Lisa and the original Venus de Milo in the Louvre. We’ve been in other art museums, but the Louvre is the Mecca of art museums, and it was thrilling to be there.
Check out the ceiling. It’s one of the zillion beautiful ceilings in the Louvre.
This is one of the rooms in a Louvre exhibit that replicates Napoleon’s apartment at Versailles.
This is Leonardo da Vinci’s “Apollo.” The guide told us people are calling it “Apollo Taking a Selfie.”
The Louvre was the king’s palace and the Tuilleries (twee’-ler-eez), across the street, was the king’s park. The park is about 1.5 miles long and borders the Seine. There’s a section with carnival rides for kids (probably not there during the king’s residence), there are lakes and gardens, and there are lots of trees and walking paths, complete with a plethora of chairs and benches. Many people joined us in relaxing in the Tuilleries.
One of the lakes and gardens in the Tuilleries.
Here’s a Thom and Katie-style foot shot to show how relaxed we are sitting at the Round Basin in the Tuilleries, just like the people you can barely see on the other side of the basin.