The Louvre is MASSIVE! - Paris, Day 5

I think I have time to do one more blog post today, then I need to get going. Today is going to be busy. I have errands to run this afternoon and then tonight I am going with Kathy to Caltagirone for some Christmas shopping. Should be fun!

We decided to use our fifth day in Paris to try and conquer the Louvre.

Me in front of one of the Louvre's glass pyramids.

The Louvre, fountains, and pyramids

Just figuring out where the entrance was, going through security, checking our backpack, buying tickets, and finding restrooms was exhausting. We decided that we needed to stop at the Starbucks inside the underground mall next to the museum before we started into the exhibits.

Fully caffeinated and refreshed we started by exploring some of the temporary exhibits. Although the museum as a whole allows photography (without flash) many of the temporary exhibits do not allow pictures. As we moved through the museum we saw several famous pieces.

Venus de Milo (Aphrodite, c. 100 B.C.)

Peeking out one of the Louvre's windows we caught this spectacular view of the Seine and Notre Dame

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1506)

Over the years many people have said that the Mona Lisa is a bit disappointing. Usually because it is much smaller than they expected. Hearing this so many times, I didn't really have any expectations. I was impressed. Its not huge, but it isn't as small as I thought it might be. The only disappointment was that it is behind glass and then roped off about 6 feet around it so you can't get close. On top of all that there was a massive crowd around it. I was able to push my way to the front of the crowd and snap this picture. I would have enjoyed staring at her for awhile but there were too many people.

I didn't catch who the artist was on this one but I thought it was beautiful.

A beautiful sculpture, again I missed who the artist was but I loved it.

Looking up into the glass pyramid.

Missed the artist on this one too. What struck me about this was how real the pallbearers looked. Creepy.

It was starting to get dark by the time we finished in the Louvre. I'm sure we missed a lot but we had about as much as we could handle for one day. We decided to make one more stop before we continued on our way...Starbucks again!

Refueled, we set off towards the Ferris Wheel through the Jardin des Tuileries.

The Eiffel Tower from the Jardin des Tuileries

The Ferris Wheel and Eiffel Tower from Jardin des Tuileries

We paid the excruciating price of 8Euro to ride the Ferris Wheel but it was completely worth it. The view was awesome! And to make it even better the Eiffel Tower started its 10 minute hourly sparkle as we looked on. Beautiful! Romantic!

The ride was over too quick, but that is usually how those things go. We continued walking towards the Champs-Elysees and met up with Mindy in the Virgin Megastore. We walked a bit, enjoyed the shops, and went into the huge Sephora before catching the metro back to Mindy's house.

Another great day in Paris!

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