Louvre

The museum is full of treasures. Chock-a-block full of art, decorative furniture, sculpture and ancient items from pyramids. I paid the extra 5 euros for an interactive gps type device to help me find my way around. Turns out he little device only directs to the "best of" pieces. I found that all of those artifacts were way to over exposed and crammed with people.
Sadly, there were so many other beautiful pieces in the museum that I walked right past.
In any other museum those breezed by pieces would have taken top billing, in the Louvre, they were just objects in a case.

Ultimately, using the gps device, I made my way around to the Louvre's greatest pieces of art: Monda Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, Death of the Virgin. I saw them all and took a few photos but the majority of my 4 hour visit was spent:
1. Getting lost
2. Back tracking after getting lost
3. Trying to see pieces unobstructed by people
4. Finding that the fire doors to the wing housing the Vermeer was locked. About 2 hours in to my visit, some guy was vaping in the bathroom and triggered the smoke alarm. The doors are shut as the alarm went off. The solution was to "air out" an entire wing, thus keeping me away from the Vermeer.
5. Because I was so often lost, turns out that the wing with the Vermeer, was one I had passed through 2 or 3 times earlier in my wanderings, without knowing it, so I missed it seeing it at all.Read more