The Louvre is the world's most visited museum and it is HUGE. It covers almost 15 acres of exhibit space. Originally a palace, it was built in the 12th century. We saw very little of it in an afternoon but, of course, enjoyed the two most famous works of art. Above, the crowd is looking at the Leonardo da Vinci painting, "Mona Lisa," painted in the early 1500's, perhaps the most widely recognized painting in the world. It is displayed behind glass at left.
It is truly a small painting and is dwarfed by the wall holding it. (77 cm × 53 cm /30 in × 21 in).
This was a popular photo view with Mona Lisa in the background.
The Louvre itself is a work of art as this random hallway/gallery shows.
Here's another of it's most famous works, Aphrodite of Milos, more widely known as "Venus de Milo," a Greek marble sculpture from about 100 B.C.
This is a view from inside the entrance pyramid. Shooting in the panorama mode, I like the distortion that resulted.
And how can you not like a museum surrounded by a gold tipped fence?
On the first Sunday of each month, many of Paris' museums are free to enter. Of course, that brings out even bigger than normal crowds. This day was no different. No ticket line but, the security check-point line to get in at the main pyramid entrance was about an hour-long. Not wanting to stand in line we sought other alternatives. We went to an obscure side entrance that tour groups use normally, put our stuff on the conveyor belt for airport-like x-ray inspection and, voila! we were in. I guess coming to visit on a busy first Sunday wasn't such a bad idea after all. It was crowded but, probably no more so than any world class museum on a weekend.
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