We spent pretty much entire day at the Louvre! After several hours, we thought about going back to the l'Orangerie to see some of what we missed, but ended up just exploring the Louvre a bit more.
We managed to get up and leave at a decent time, then took the RER to the d'Orsay and walked over to the Louvre. Since we were having a big dinner (and had a big lunch and dinner yesterday), we just stopped in the cafe for a light snack before hitting the museum.
Marsha had downloaded the Louvre app, which had a pretty cool audio tour (Madison was pleased to see that the official audio tour uses a Nintendo DS).
The initial tour (you can purchase others through the app) gives you turn-by-turn directions to see the major works in the museum. I had downloaded it, too, but not the extra content, so I had to wait until later when I could get a decent wifi connection.
The first part we entered was a stone wall and mote from the original Louvre, which was built as a fortress in from 1190 to 1202. The mote was eventually filled in and the existing palaces (the building is actually two palaces, the Louvre and Tuileries, that were joined together before Louie XIV moved the seat of power to Versailles) were built on top starting from 1546, with additions over the next several centuries.
As a museum, the Louvre is known for three major artworks: the Mona Lisa (the main icon of their marketing, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace.
The app easily directed us to all three.
Our next stop was several rooms full of statues. It was there that we saw the Venus de Milo (one down) and numerous other incredible statues.
Not to far from there is a long staircase. Perched up at the very top is Winged Victory (two down).
In addition to all of the incredible artwork, there's the palace itself. Many of the rooms, and especially the ceilings, are just incredible.
The palace (and therefore the museum) has an odd layout, so it's very easy to get lost and confused. We did several times. It's kind of a squared-off, sideways A. The top of the A is a box. You can enter the museum via the box or either of the side wings, but if you want to get from one wing to the other, you're probably better off going out (the main courtyard is underground, below the pyramid).
The rooms are numbered, but the numbers repeat on each floor, and in multiple places you go up and down stairs, so it gets even more confusing. After a few hours, I finally started getting the hang of it.
My one quibble was the heat. The museum has A/C that comes up through grates on the floor (we saw one girl do the Marilyn Monroe pose), but it wasn't enough to cool things down. Some rooms were cool, while others were like sweat boxes. But that's been true of all Paris, this week. We've gone back and forth from being chilly to sweating.
Another highlight is the Apollo Gallery and the Crown Jewels. When you enter, it's clear you're in part of the original palace.
There are so many galleries of paintings that you could spend days on end just looking at them all. There were so many that we just rushed by due to lack of time, but many others that we stopped to admire. These were works that we recognized or that just caught our attention.
The Mona Lisa (three down) is located in a room that branches off from a long hallway and when you go in there, it's just insane. You have to fight your way up to the front amid hundreds of people trying to photograph it and take selfies. And no one cares about any of the other paintings in the room (me included).
I'd heard that it was pretty small, but I'd heard that so much, it was actually bigger than I expected. Definitely not huge, but not tiny, either.
After seeing it the first time, I realized that I was so focused on trying to get a picture, that I didn't really get to look at the painting itself. So we went back later when it wasn't nearly as crazy, but it was still crowded and because of the barrier they have set up, you just can't get close to it at all.
One of my favorite areas was the Napoleon III apartments, another great glimpse of how the palace once looked. It actually reminded me a lot of Biltmore Estate, both in decor and layout.
While trying to find our was back to the Mona Lisa, we actually stumbled across one small section of impressionist paintings featuring Monet, Degas, and Renoir. That was a welcome surprise. Turns out they're not all at the l'Orangerie.
I was really intrigued by the elevator in the main entry hall. It's a cylindrical shaft that goes up and down within the circular staircase. I was dying to ride it, but it was restricted to people with poor mobility.
We finished up just in time to peruse the gift shop and take the RER back to the hotel to quickly (and I do mean quickly) freshen up and change for dinner. We had reservations for Les Ombres, which boasts the best views of the Eiffel Tower. The restaurant sits on top of the Quai Branley museum.
After dinner, we went back to the room and changed again, this time more casual. Madison stayed behind so that Marsha and I could have a romantic walk together in the city of love. Oohs-la-la!
We walked up to the Champs-Élysées and back to Laduree to get more macarons. It wasn't nearly as busy and was a much less hectic experience. I was completely intrigued by the woman in front of us who was determined to buy up half the store. Even after she got her ticket to take to the register, she handed it back so that she could buy more stuff. Marsha tried to send me out to check the menu at the Laduree cafe, but I had to see the final bill. It was well over 200 Euros.
We had a great view of the Eiffel Tower again as we walked back to the hotel. Just can't get enough of it. It was the perfect ending to our last full day in Paris.
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