One could spend a full week exploring the many sculptures, paintings and famous art pieces in the Louvre. Not only is the artwork incredible, the building was formerly a palace and is jaw-droppingly impressive. I had trouble focusing on the artwork at some times because the architecture, grandiose stairwells and ceiling murals had my attention.
Being as it is tourist season, we were forewarned of massive lines and difficulty accessing the most famous pieces. We had also read that visiting the Louvre can be a very overwhelming and frustrating experience. The museum itself is massive (five floors, three huge buildings) and the stairways, halls and maps were said to complicated.
Sooo, we developed a strategic plan of attack. As neither of us are big art fanatics, we looked up a few top ten lists and went from there. We arrived after the crowds at four pm, only giving ourselves two hours to tackle the Louvre. With a map and our own pencilled out museum route we were set! In between practically running across the museum from piece to piece, we were able to stop, soak in, appreciate and attempt interpreting the artworks. For us, this was the right way to see the Louvre. There were tons of staff to confirm route directions with and we didn't feel concerned about not seeing everything (definitely impossible in one, even two days).
I was not only impressed with the artists and their works but how these pieces have been preserved (the Egyptian squatting scribe sculpture is over 4000 years old!). It was also pretty awesome seeing Mona Lisa. Yes, it's smaller than you'd probably imagine, covered by a large glass window and surrounded by agressive tourists elbowing their way to the front for a picture (a laughable sight). Even if you don't know much about art, visiting the Louvre is an experience you wouldn't want to miss in Paris.
- Julia
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