Today we woke up late,
around 10 o’clock in the morning because we’re so tired from last night’s trip
to the Eiffel Tower. We were worried
that the line at the Louvre might already be unbearable so we did our best to
get there as soon as possible. We took
the bus to the museum since a bus stop is just a few minutes from our hotel. We got off at Louvre-Rivoli stop and walked our way to the main entrance. We were surprised in what we saw, no queues! Louvre is the most visited attraction in
Paris so we expected lines like those of the Eiffel Tower. I’ve read so many travel sites warning about
its ridiculous lines that they even gave tips on which entrance has the shortest
lines. Maybe we’re just lucky.
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| Surprisingly no queues |
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| Did you know that Louvre used to be a palace? |
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Tourists from all over the world
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| Louvre Interior |
We only visited the
must see works of art like the Winged Victory of Samothrace,
Venus de Milo, Michelangelo’s David, Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss, and of
course, the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is
kind of a disappointment. It’s the most
famous painting in the world. Her smile
has intrigued the world for centuries. The
Da Vinci Code made her even more mysterious.
However, in person the Mona Lisa is just like another small painting. I mean, I’ve seen better paintings than
that. Covered by a bullet proof glass
(the only one I saw in Louvre) and surrounded by hoards of tourist with their
cameras like paparazzi before a celebrity, it’s hard to appreciate its “beauty”.
Besides we have a replica in our house
for years so I wasn’t amazed at all. For
me, the painting opposite of it is more interesting. Even though it’s the biggest painting in the
museum, the few people it gathers are nothing compared to the mob of Mona Lisa.
We only spent 4 hours inside
but it felt like we were there forever.
Don’t expect to see everything.
The 35,000 collection inside will need a lifetime to see it all. I know my arts professor would hate me for saying
this, but to be honest I didn’t really enjoy Louvre that much. It is so huge! You can’t help but get lost
even with an aid of a map. Seeing works
of art after another for 4 straight hours gave me a headache. It was too much for me. It’s also hard to appreciate art because there
is always somebody standing in front of it trying to have a picture with it. I
don’t know, maybe museums are not my thing.
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| Opera district |
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| Palais Garnier |
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| Palais Garnier |
After Louvre, we took
the metro to Galleries La Fayette to have some shopping. The metros of Paris, compared to the London
Underground, look old and scary. The
smell of urine reeks everywhere you go.
I don’t know how they can live with that. Some of the trains don’t have automatic doors.
There is a handle you need to turn or a
button to press before it open. We
didn’t know this before so we just stood there waiting for it to open while the
people inside stared at us. We thought
maybe it was broken and went to the next door where the others are going
in. I think Parisians are used to seeing
naïve tourist like us do that for every station, every day. I’ll understand if they will just roll their
eyes.
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| One of the city's street performers |
We were surprised to
see the boulevard of Haussmann deserted.
We forgot that it was a Sunday.
We also didn’t make it on time to Galleries La Fayette. It was already closed when we got there. We
just went to the nearby Palais Garnier and watched a
pianist play a Mozart in front of the opera house. Oh la la Paris!
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- Monday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday: from 9
a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Friday: from
9 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.
- Closed on Tuesdays
2. Louvre Ticket: Adult: €11 Under 18 years old: free
3. Visit the
museum in the morning to avoid queues.
4. Information regarding the painting and sculptures is in French.
5. We paid
for an audio guide for €5/ person. It is a Nintendo 3d SD with
commentaries and map of the museum. It can be useful but I wouldn’t
suggest it. Its batteries ran out after 1.5 hours contrary to the 3 hours
they claimed. After the battery runs out, you’ll have to return the
gadget and have it replaced with a newly charged one near the main lobby wasting
time and energy.
Why do you love that (7th pic) painting so much?
ReplyDeletePlaygroup Singapore yes street perfomer :D i want to see this
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