The Louvre Museum

November 21, 2010 - It was a rainy day in Paris France. Extremely cold, the skies were gray like it was on our first day. Making matters worse was the drizzle. Despite the damp weather and all, I was still looking forward to visiting the Louvre Museum.



Destination: The Louvre Museum. We took Bus Number 72 and got off at the Palais Royale Louvre Station. It was an interesting route going to the Louvre as the bus runs by the Seine river, which means I got to see again the major attractions along the river, including the Eiffel Tower.



Grand Louvre - it is one of Paris France' most popular historic monuments. The Louvre Museum is also one of the largest in the world and most visited as well. It is home to the Mona Lisa, a painting masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.

Trivia about this French historical piece of architecture. Originally, the museum was a royal palace built by different Kings. However, with the building of a new palace for the French Royalty, it was transformed into a museum in the 18th century. The Louvre Museum has early names such as Musee Central des Arts and the Musee Napoleon. However, most French locals and tourists affectionately call it as The Louvre.

It is said that if you visit the museum and check every artifact, painting, stone and clay figure, sculpture and historical piece for at least 30 seconds, you will end your visit in five months. I don't intend to do that as I have just two days more to go for my Paris tour.




From afar, the glass pyramid in the middle of the palace courtyard caught our full attention, away from the classical, even Gothic(for me at least) palace buildings of Louvre.



We were greeted with a long line. Definitely, people would want to miss everything else but not the most famous occupant of the museum - The Mona Lisa. The long queue was quite painful enough; however, it was aggravated by the drizzle. Finally, we got to the entrance.

Actually, we were in line not for Louvre Museum tickets as Francois already bought them weeks ago,but just to get into the museum. Inside, expect it not to be 100 percent museum as you can find commercial establishments, souvenir shops and boutiques, cafes and restaurants .

We proceeded down Denon hall as we entered the museum. Our primary target - the Mona Lisa. Luckily you would not get lost as plenty of arrows directing toward this famous painting are everywhere. The same can be said as true for the second most famous occupant - the Venus de Milo.





Just witnessing the beauty of these two paintings can be spellbinding. Apart from the Mona Lisa and Venus de Mila, I was also in awe with the gargantuan paintings, particularly the Italian(Roman) masterpieces, some of which are as large and wide as the whole gallery walls.





Admittedly, I am not a fan of art, but I truly enjoyed the short few hours that I spent The Louvre Museum. It doesn't just house world famous masterpieces, but also includes Roman and Egyptian artifacts as well. I was particularly impressed with huge Egyptian collection.







It is obvious that the Egyptian section of the Louvre has the largest collection of artifacts. They must have devoted an entire floor of the museum just for the Egyptian collection, as historical pieces occupy numerous rooms. Such collections include mummies, clay human and animal figures and forms and as well as ancient tools and implements of sorts.



If given the chance, I would definitely revisit the Louvre Museum. It is highly recommended to everyone as a family trip, as you can bring your kids to the books and children section of the museum, where their collection is simply voluminous. Indeed, the hassle of flying to Paris France and getting Louvre Museum tickets beforehand are all worthwhile as you are sure to enjoy the best museum in the world.