Paris Pictures - 17 March - Louvre

Posted 9.April, back dated to 17.March to be in chronological order.

Sunday (3/16) was a bit of a low-key day - we moved everyone back to the campground at Paris Est Le Tremblay because we knew it worked. Nice to have our moms at the same site. The mobile home rentals were less than ideal - but for 80 EURO per night for 2 people, I think they did OK.

From this...

to this... (the one pictured was only one night - they moved to a somewhat nicer and larger unit the next day)

Monday (3/17) the moms, Megan and I set out to visit the Louvre. Dan stayed back with Sophia to take care of some projects around the motorhome.

For me, the fact that you need much more than one day to visit didn't really sink in until we arrived and saw the sheer enormity of the exhibit areas. I tried to find the "hidden" automats that are in the metro entrance, but was hopelessly lost. So we entered with the masses, through the glass pyramids. It's actually a pretty cool experience. About 30-minutes later, tickets in hand, we were ready to wander.

Outside the Louvre

We're really here!

I had suggested we split up to enable each of us to explore at our own pace and interest level. Everyone agreed. Except, my mom forgot her watch. Charlotte wandered off by herself while the three of us (me, Megan, my mom) headed out together. I've never felt so bad. We probably should have stuck together.

Another 15-minutes in line and we had audioguides, which are really complicated PDA-like devices. Despite my normal ability to make a computer function, I was unable to get the "zoom" feature to work (where you can navigate through a map of the building to your present location and "find" the piece(s) of artwork you are looking for). Definitely could be better engineered.

We wandered for two hours or so - lost in the overwhelming mass of artwork and maze of hallways and stairwells. Found our way to the Mona Lisa and paid our tribute. Not only is she behind glass, but they have a great deal of space roped off between her and the throngs of people admiring her. Loved how the "no pictures" signage was enforced. I think I was one of the only ones who bothered to turn the flash off. I do have respect for the artwork!

Mona Lisa behind glass.

Cooridor connecting buildings.

As the three of us were starting to head back to our agreed upon meeting place, there was suddenly an announcement over the PA to exit the building immediately. Alarms started sounding - and as we rushed through some fantastic sculpture exhibits, it occurred to me that I had an agreed upon meeting place with Charlotte inside the building, but not outside the building. Second thought - How am I going to explain this to Bill? "Sorry, I lost your wife in Paris. She's somewhere at the Louvre." I realized that I didn't know if she had the address for where we were staying in case she got separated from us. Didn't think about emergency planning for group travel.

Emergency exit procedures leave a bit to be desired. Hoards of people were still streaming through from other entrance hallways. None of the aides were ushering people out. Yet, when we finally made it to an exit where we knew we would easily find our meeting place, an attendant was actively rerouting traffic to a different exit. So you have thousands of people, only about a quarter of whom are obeying the alarms and exit directives and security staff closing off known exits but not seeming to stop more people from entering. It was frustrating to say the least.

Happily, we found Charlotte and apparently only the wing of the building we were in was closed down. There was no effort in the central lounge to move people out. Very bizarre.

After resting an munching on our brown bag lunch, the group agreed to stay together for the afternoon. Refueld, we were off looking for paintings by some of the greats ... Monet, Renoit... you know the names. After much wandering and a lot of time spent in a statue garden (which I could never details for on the PDA-like device), we found Napolean's apartments and finally, by following signs for a Dutch artist exhibit, we found the sought after classics.

Exhausted, we headed out. I honestly think you could spend a month in the Louvre and probably not get bored. It's such a great museum! I loved seeing the look on Charlotte's face when we finally found the classic paintings. Seeing Megan clue in to the statues and examine the statue of cupid as the audio guide explained it to her was marvelous. She was really into it, hearing about the use of lines and detail work while being able to examine the statue up close.

We found the Starbucks on the way out and imbided on coffee and a hot chocolate for Meg. Then we of course, admired the inverted pyramid inside and got lost looking for the restrooms in the Carrousel shopping plaza.

Found the metro entrance and politely waited out two very overcrowded trains for one that we stood a reasonable chance of boarding. (picture this, a woman is inside the train, her golf umbrella and oversized bag are outside the train and the doors are trying to close. She wrangles the umbrella up and in but a metro attendant had to literally push her bag in so the doors would close.)

A cool day. I can't wait to go back some day and this time, I know to budget more time and plan out the visits.