Having been to Paris twice previously and never having set foot inside the Louvre, I was anxious to visit. Unfortunately, my first visit was a whirlwind business trip with an 8-hour layover, so devoting 3-4 hours to the Louvre was simply not in the cards if one wanted to visit Notre Dame, the Champs Elysees, the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe before heading back to the airport. The second time was with family where we planned to visit but a historic rain raised the water level in the Seine to near flood levels and the Louvre was closed. So, when my wife and I took a couples getaway to Paris, the Louvre was on the top of the “must do list”.

My wife selected a guided tour and that was exactly the right thing for us and, likely, for your first trip, unless you know the Louvre like the back of your hand. With its many hallways and gallerys you need need to be able to negotiate the labyrinth that is the Louvre and even with a map it isn’t easy. We waited at the Place du Carrousel near the entrance to the Louvre for our guide to arrive. Escorting us down through the underground shops to the ticket area we skipped the lines and proceeded on our tour.

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The Louvre is situated on the right back of the seine river, in the first arrondissement (1st district). Situated in what was previously a royal palace, it has interior room of 782,910 square feet and holds over 38,000 displays. The iconic pyramid designed by American architect I. M. Pei was initially despised by Parisians but is now symbolic to the Louvre. The Rose line and downward triangle made famous in the The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown was fun to see in person and I did actually wonder what was below. The larger upward pyramid covers the central atrium and associated nearby ticket counter.

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Moving on our group plunged into the Louvre’s exhibits which encompasses prehistorical artifacts to 21st Century items.

Mona Lisa

The most famous painting in the world is the Mona Lisa. Given the line size was relatively short this time of the morning, it was going to be our first stop in the Louvre. The Mona Lisa’s normal location is Salle des États which has bullet proof glass, climate controlled interior, and special LED lights that won’t degrade the painting. However, when we were at the Louvre it had been temporarily relocated to a large room with many Ruben paintings on the wall in a special enclosure. The director of the Louvre was once quoted saying that of the 9.3 million visitors to the Louvre yearly 80% just simply wanted to see the Mona Lisa. Too bad about the Rubens in the background they are forgotten! The best time to avoid long lines is to go first thing in the morning (Louvre opens at 9 am) and/or Wed and Fri late (the museum stays open till 9:45 pm) to avoid the crowds. Once you are finally let in to see the Mona Lisa unfortunately you only have 20-ish seconds to view her before next group.

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Napoleon III Apartments and Royal Crowns

After our 30-minute wait to see the Mona Lisa and 20 second “alone time” we were ushered towards the Napoleon Apartments with a quick side trip to see the crown jewels of France in the Galerie d’Apollon. These aren’t your typical apartments that most people think of, rather the Emperor’s were a bit more posh than most. The basic theme used in to decorate is to leave no space unadorned. They are amazing to look at and with a bit of help I think a chandelier would look quite nice in my entry. Ok, well maybe it would be a little gaudy.

The portrait of Louis XIV, while famous, is an early example of photoshopping. While known as a dancer and having strong legs in his youth, this is a picture of a well older Louis. So he used a stunt double and had a young mans legs painted below and his image painted on top.

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Statues Galore

Moving on went down a series of steps to view Winged Victory of Samothrace or also know as Nike. While no longer having a head the statue is one of the most famous Greek sculptures and dates from 200-300 BC.

Not too far away from Nike, we viewed several more magnificent sculptures. Venus di Milo, The Slaves by Michelangelo, Cupid and Psyche, Sleeping Hermaphrodite On Bed, and more are exquisite renderings in stone. While paintings seem to be common today I think we have lost some of the beauty and techniques of past sculptors. This transformation of stone, for me, is beyond my comprehension and I love viewing them.

The Sleeping Hermaphrodite is an example of one person (unknown) carving the sleeping person and Bernini, who has many famous pieces in the Borghese Gallery in Rome, carving the mattress so perfectly that the two sculptures seem one. The craftsmanship is astounding. Of course, the playfulness of this piece was trick you into seeing a woman in repose from one view point, only to see it is not really a woman from the other.

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Paintings

Of course, the Louvre is filled with famous paintings and to try to describe them in a short blog would be futile. Rather, my goal is to show a few iconic images and to express the sense of wonder I still get when viewing famous pieces with my own eyes, not the smaller renderings in a book. The size of many paintings cannot be fully appreciated in a book and informed guides are very helpful to those, like me, who spent almost all their time on the science side of the college campus and had precious little exposure to the arts. Informed guides help you to understand what was going on at the time the painting was made, what the artist was trying to say in the image and challenges that were faced. Of course, some were just paid portraits like the Mona Lisa, but understanding the artist to some extent does help you connect with the piece.

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Too soon our 3-hour tour of the Louvre was over. I think more than 3 hours and so many exceptional works can become overwhelming, but I do want to return again to the Louvre to spend more time enjoying art.

However, by the time the tour ended my wife and I were both hungry and we made our way to a local bistro for a croque monsieur and a beer for me and a sandwich and salad for her accompanied by a nice glass of wine. Time to recharge and then head off to the Eiffel Tower via a river boat!

I hope you enjoyed this mini-tour of the Louvre and hope it entices you to leave the comfort of your home and visit Paris and the Louvre. You won’t be disappointed with either!