The Louvre and its Mona Lisa

Gracious

The Louvre. Thousands of paintings, kilometers of hallways and tourists from all over the world – except for me. I have always avoided the queue in front of it and when people were talking about the Mona Lisa and how disappointed they were by its size, I could only nod and think of a tiny little square on a wall, captured by millions of smartphone flashes. Until last week. Then I even went twice into the historic monument that unifies history, art and French architecture.

The Mona Lisa – Having heard all that stories about its size, I kept my expectations rather low and eventually met what I had expected. A decent painting, protected by glass walls and a bundle of tourists standing in front of it. I know that lots of people only enter the Louvre to have a glimpse at her and then leave as quickly as they came. Luckily, it was late on Wednesday night and so I could truly admire the painting and look at it from different angles. The multi-perspective is what makes the Mona Lisa so fascinating : She always looks straight into your eyes with an even but mysterious smile.

The Louvre is huge. Therefore I only visited the Italian, Spanish and American painters as well as the Egypt section (1st floor). Since it is impossible for me to concentrate any longer than two hours on museum items I am obliged to split my visits into different parts. Telling you that, I will return tonight again.

Two days after my first visit, I went back into the reverent halls. Though, the paintings weren’t my goal at all but a dancing event in the middle of the œuvres. It was a magnificent atmosphere due to the baroque music and the great architecture that surrounded the young artists. Next time such an event is offered, I will definitely will be amongst the first to go !

My advice : Best times to visit the Louvre is in the winter months. Apparently Paris is less flooded by tourists then. Yet, I highly recommend to visit it during the night sessions (Wednesday and Friday) : After 8PM only few people stroll through the hallways. As most museum in Paris, the Louvre is also free for students under 26.

Art in different ways

The Pyramid

P.S. Sorry for the video quality...