The first thing I did in the first morning in Paris was to collect the 2-Day Paris Museum Pass that I had pre-ordered from Rue de Rivoli. This pass allows me access to over 60 museums in and around Paris. This is a very useful pass to have because it allow one to avoid the queue at the ticketing office. However, you have to remember that most museums in Paris is closed on Mondays.
My main stop for the day was the Louvre Museum. Continuously built over 500 years and previously a palace, the Louvre is one of the largest art gallery and museum in the world. The latest extension is the Louvre Pyramid built less than 20 years ago.
You have to be there to see for yourself the immense size of the Louvre — what you see below is just a part of the Louvre. There are more behind the back facade.
At the west end is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel which was built by Napolean. This is the start of the long wide avenue leading all the way to the Arch de Triomphe 9 km away.
The Louvre Pyramid is the main entrance to the Louvre. There were tight security checks the day I was there where most bags were checked.
Despite being early, there were a lot of people already here. It’s no wonder that this is one of the most visited museums in the world.
I got myself an Audio Guide. This is really indispensable in this immense museum.
The most famous art piece at the Louvre is Leornado da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Unfortunately, no one is allowed to take pictures of the Mona Lisa. However, most of the other exhibits is OK with photography (without flash and tripod). I had a good time learning more of paintings that i had only heard of.
I think I must have walked miles and miles within the Louvre. It gets very tiring. It’s not possible to see the entire Louvre in one day.
The Louvre is also the home of the Venus de Milo. Venus de Milo is an ancient Greek sculpture and is over 2000 years old.
The museum is so large that I often didn’t know where I was. For me, the best way to get my bearings is to look out the window.
One cannot ignore the opulence displayed in the Louvre. Some rooms itself had paintings and sculptures decorating every single square inch!
Room after room of such grandeur. It’s no wonder the French Revolution happened.
There were so many rooms like these that I’ve lost track of how many there are.
The below is what remains of the Medieval Louvre. It was originally a moat around the Louvre Castle.
After five hours at the Louvre, I had enough and started to make my way down the Axe Historique … I wanted to see the Place de la Concorde, the Champs ?lys?es, the Arc du Triomphe and try to get to the Eiffel Tower by night fall. Lots to cover … more tomorrow.
Ooooh… I’m envious. I’ve never been to the Louvre. Your pictures look spectacular.
I was almost on the same schedule as you many many years ago. I also took the Eurostar to Paris, then did the Lourve, Arc De Triomphe, and Champs de Elysee.
Hi Chubbypanda: Thanks for the feedback. Am glad you like the pictures.
Hi Tigerfish: What was your impression of Paris? I think Paris is romantic and can’t help hoping that Suanne was there. At the sametime, I think Paris is also quite dirty. The tourist spots were clean and beautiful but away from them, I see a lot of litter and graffiti.
Where is the famous picture, Mona Lisa?
Talking about the Lourve, I would like say this: I went there a few years ago and I didn’t pay to get in for 3 hours! Well, I couldn’t find the ticket office and thought, if someone checked the ticket, then I would buy it. But hey, nobody checked! By the time I left, I saw a long queue and two persons were checking the tickets… hehehehe! :p
To tell you the truth, I don’t really like Paris. Perhaps I had a bad experience taking the Eurostar and thus slightly biased. I thought the whole place was chaotic!
All places like Paris are chaotic, tigerfish – it’s a part of city life!
Hi Windy: They have burly security guards standing in front of Mona Lisa and signs saying no photography. So, I did not dare to whip out my camera. He he he … yeah, I see that they check the tickets very casually and sometimes it’s easy to snuck in if they are not looking or if there are a big crowd going through. Lucky you.
Hi Tigerfish: What happened on EuroStar? I like London, Brussels and Amsterdam better than Paris. Will blog about this aspect in the next few days.