Today we DID visit the Louvre

Up bright and early we breakfasted and headed out to the Metro – it was a cool morning when we left the hostel and a little overcast – 40 minutes later when we emerged from the Palais Royal Louvre Station it was starting to rain …. not as per forecast but never mind. As per the instructions we had found online instead of queueing at the main entrance we headed into the Carousel shopping centre (home of the inverted pyramid) and joined the line there – even at 5 to 9 this was much shorter and by 20 past we had been through security, purchased tickets, checked our bags and were walking in to the Museum. The Louvre is just amazing and really a must see, although it is only the older works held there (nothing after about the 1850’s). We had a wander staring with a search for the Vermeer works which I really wanted to see (sadly they turned out to be in Dublin!) and then moving on to all the must see pieces such as the winged victory, some fantastic Fra Angelico, the Venus di Milo, hall of the Sphinx’s and of course we braved the crush to see the Mona Lisa. By 1230 we were completely knackered, had walked 14,000+ steps and were not “over” art but had seen about enough for the day. During our time in the museum it had not just rained but actually thundered (really not as per forecast) so out first task was to go purchase an umbrella …. This done we had to decide what to do next.Read more