Being Touristy

It's the first Sunday of the month. This means free entry to a long list of museums.  After weighing our options, we decided to visit the Louvre. December is a good time to see the museums, since it's not the peak tourist season.  The free entry however, drew a considerable crowd... a tourist season kind of crowd.  You could not walk through the more popular exhibits without walking into someone or into someone's photo opt.  We unintentionally photo bombed a few family portraits.  Everyone was so happy to be in Paris/at the Louvre they really didn't care.

The Louvre has an amazing collection- parts of which you can tour online.  Thousands of objects (art and antiquities) are housed in the 652,300 square feet building.  Determining where to start is daunting, and forget about the idea of walking the entire museum in one visit.  Even with our map we had a hard time determining where we were. Never mind figuring out where we wanted to go.  The museum is almost too big.  You can't really linger and reflect in front of each piece- there is just too many waiting to be seen.  There is also little description (just name, artist, and how the museum acquired the piece) about each piece of work, so you are left wondering the meaning of each piece. I will have to downloaded the Louvre App for next time or perhaps sign up for a tour.

My favorite piece in the Museum is still La Joconde (or the Mona Lisa).  Her face is mesmerizing.  Even when your eyes wander to other parts of the picture, her eyes draw you back in.  A close second is Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss.  The tenderness between Psyche and Cupid is palpable. It adds to the aesthetics of the piece.

The Louvre is a wonderful museum, and we are lucky to live close by. Between the crowds and the amount of walking, visits require a lot of energy.

Psyche Revived By Cupid's Kiss.