We had a leisurely morning, and slept in a little, and didn’t leave the apt until 10:45. Our tickets to the Louvre were originally at 9am, but we got a call yesterday letting us know our guide was sick, and they asked if we could switch our time to 11:30. After a long day yesterday, and having walked over 13,500 steps, a later start sounded like a good idea. We caught 2 Metros, and got off at the Rivoli Louvre. The stop was beautiful. It was different than any of the other Metro stops with dark walls and  Greek or Roman statues light up.

We found the place where we met our guide, Mareen. We were fortunate that there were only 5 of us on this English speaking tour. The other three women were from Israel, who were running a little late, so we got to walk around the pyramids outside the entrance. Being with a guided tour, we didn’t have to wait in the long lines (which honestly didn’t look that long). Mom’s guide book says Thursdays are typically less touristy. Some of you probably already know this, but the Louvre is the largest museum in the world and has 35,000 pieces of art on display, but over 350,000 pieces in their collection.

We started our tour at the walls of the fortress. This was news to me, but the museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II. The remnants were what we saw. Due to the urban expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and, in 1546, was converted into the main residence of the French kings. Eventually Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture.

We then walked to see the Greek and Roman statues, where we saw the Venus de Milo and two pieces by Michaelangelo, Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory), marble, circa 190 BC, and one of my favorites Eros and Psyche. Mareen was very proud of the original Greek statues, more than the Italian ones. She described the Roman works as “knock-offs” From the originals. It was kindof funny. Because it was only a two hour tour, we had to find some of the pieces I mentioned on our own. Then we went up to the next floor where we walked through European decorative paintings where we saw three pieces by Da Vinci, Botticelli, Delacroix, and of course we had to see the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting there. There was a large crowd in front of her, but we were able to get close enough for some photos.

Liberty Leading the People is a painting by Eugène Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled King Charles X of France. It was really quite stunning, as was another one nearby, the Raft of the Medusa. This is an oil painting of 1818–1819 by the French Romantic painter Théodore Géricault. It was completed when the artist was 27, and the work has become an icon of French Romanticism.

This was where our tour ended. We walked through half of the museum on our own, and said “uncle” to the second half. We couldn’t do it. It was quite an amazing museum, and worth coming back to. We decided to head home, grab some bread for dinner, and chill…maybe even take a nap.