A Day at the Louvre

Saturday, October 6, 2007.

I honestly didn’t think it would be possible, but I managed to spend most of the entire day at the Louvre Museum, and survived with most of my limbs still intact. There was so much to see, so much to see, sooo much to see….!!

Slept in a bit this morning—just couldn’t get moving. I guess all of this travel has been catching up to me lately. But after I got up, did a bit of email work, then hustled out and headed to the Louvre Museum. I figured it would take about an hour to walk there.

And what a walk. Oh, I think I love Paris in the morning. Before the streets get too full of traffic. Before the sidewalks get too full of pedestrians, workers and tourists alike. Before the air gets too full of noise.

(In fact, I think I love all cities first thing in the morning. Rome, Florence, Venice, Nice, Paris—they were all so different, but all so beautiful and peaceful in the morning.)

It ended up taking less than 45 minutes. Cool. Got there just after 9:30 am, and there was no line up to get in. Even more cool. Wandered in, trying to get oriented. Grabbed a museum map and tried to figure out what to see first, where to go, what to do. Overwhelmed, I quickly realized that I should probably hit the highlights first, before the crowds and tour groups got there.

Good plan. Beelined for the Mona Lisa—and there was already a huge crowd. Yikes. But at least I got a look at it, and took a couple of fuzzy photos, too (look, mom, I really saw the Mona Lisa!!). Then took a bit of time winding back down through the large format French paintings (WOW, they weren't kidding, they’re huge!!), and the sixteenth and seventeenth century Italian paintings (should have spent more time in there—but I knew there was still so much too see!). Wandered into the Apollo Gallery as well, right behind a tour group—ugh. But at least the tour group masked my ability to sneak a few shots of the ceiling (everyone else seemed to be taking snapshots, so I did too, even though pictures were supposedly restricted in there).

Saw a few of the highlights that are listed on the on museum map. Ticked them off one by one. (There is something so satisfying about ticking things off a list. Yes, I'm still a list person--and those who've worked with me know this!!) Then wound my way down to the lower floors of the Denon building, including the sculptures (my personal favourite in museums—much more photo-friendly). Saw the Venus de Milo and a couple of sculptures by Michelangelo, among dozens and dozens of others.

So after spending over two hours in the Denon building, I was doing pretty good: it was noon, so I took a short lunch break in the central Napoleon Hall, where the cafes are located (had brought my own lunch that day: some figs, a plum, a banette with cheese and prosciutto, and some water—didn’t risk vino, since I wasn’t sure what kind of security they would have).

After my lunch, I skipped across the hall to the Richelieu building, to check out more highlights. I spent the most amount of time with the sculptures—I will never tire of looking at sculptures. The energy, the weight, the lightness, the gravity, the movement, the stillness—it’s all there. And the best sculptures include elements of all of those things, transfixing the viewer and transporting her to an otherworldly place…

Right. Back to the museum. Had taken so many photos, that I maxed out my memory card. So had to spend a few minutes deleting photos of Rome and Florence so I could clear up some space. Sat amongst the eighteenth and nineteenth century French sculptures in the Cour Puget courtyard, and merrily clicked away on my camera…

After the sculptures, did manage to make it to the top floor of the Richelieu, and viewed some Flemish, German, and other paintings, including a Durer self-portrait. Also saw some objets d’art, as well as Napoleon’s apartments—yow, talk about extravagance! Everything was glittery gold and red velvet and crystal.

By this time I was getting pretty tired out, so I took another short break, then decided I’d try to attack the last building, the Sully, where the medieval Louvre exhibition was, as well as some Egyptian goodies. So I hobbled my way through, snapped a few shots, and hobbled my way back out. Have to say that I honestly didn’t spend as much time in there as I would have liked, but after more than six hours in there, my legs were killing me, I was dehydrated (again), and quite frankly, I was getting museumed out. ("Museumed out" - temporary condition in which every painting begins to look like every other painting, other art lovers begin to look like vultures flapping over bloody carcasses or bargain shoppers crowding around sale bins at Wal-Mart, and any sort of flash photography begins to trigger fits of compulsive twitching.)

So after taking a few parting shots of the main information hall and buying a couple of museum books to flip through later, I took the escalator back up to ground level, and exited the glass pyramid. Sat on the edge of one of the fountains, ate another fig, and relaxed in the sun for a few minutes.

Then hobbled out to the Seine. The sun invigorated me, so as I walked back east along the river, I came up with the silly idea of trying to hit Notre Dame before it closed. It was after 430pm by this point, and I knew it closed at 530pm. Hmm, well, I still had a chance if I hoofed it.

And I made it. Got into a queue, filed in with a ton of other tourists, took a couple of icky blurry photos, and filed back out… and missed the towers. Access was outside around the corner… Damn! Closed for the day! Missed it by going into the church. Ah well, I guess I’ll have to squeeze that in either tomorrow or Monday before I go…

On my way back to the hotel, found a row of perfect stores: café on the corner, followed by bakery, wine store, cheese shop, deli, meat store, veggie market. I eagerly stocked up for the next several days.