A date with Mona Lisa at the Louvre
While the Museums of Paris contain a huge treasure trove of classical works by the masters, going to them is just like going to any other museum. It pays to know as much information about the hours, the admission fees and the major exhibitions housed in each one. Like the museums in New York, there are certain days or hours when admission is reduced, when admission is free (!), when the museum has extended hours of operation (the Louvre is open until 9:30PM on Fridays), and the most important information you should seek out is when they are closed. (Most museums are closed Monday.)
The Louvre must be one if not the biggest of all museums worldwide. It also has quite an inventory in its huge collection. What is a visit to the Louvre and to Paris for that matter without a peek at La Jaconda — or Mona Lisa as we all know it? Mona Lisa is now housed in its permanent wall in the Denon Wing in a Salle (or hall) aptly named after it. Although photography was allowed all over the museum in 2005, it was prohibited this time around in the areas where the prints and paintings are housed. You can still take pictures where the statues are, but be mindful of prohibitions to take photographs as the museum staff are always on the prowl. If you only half a day to spend at the museum, plot where you want to go so that you don’t waste time looking for specific works or masters that you are interested in. The Denon Wing alone can take you all afternoon or all morning.
The Louvre has ATM-like machines inside from where you can purchase tickets with cash or your Mastercard or Visa. All pertinent information to touring the museum such as plans in various languages and brochures on other events are found at the information desk in the middle of the main lobby underneath the huge pyramid. From there, all you have to do is look around and you will find the escalators heading to the three main wings: Denon, Richeliue and Sully. Again, I recommend you concentrate on Denon if you are pressed for time.
The museum now offers a Da Vinci Code Tour Audio Guide (which, again, is new and was not offered in Feb 2005) for Euro 5.50. I would’ve gotten the audioguide if they were available last year when I specifically sought out the works mentioned in Dan Brown’s bestseller. Audioguides, in general, are good to have (specially when they come free with the museum entrance), but tend to slow you down. You might also want to consider bringing your own headset like I did when I did Chartres. (More on that in a later post.)
Take your time touring the Louvre. Unless you know you will be back, the tour is useless if you cannot remember any masterpiece you passed, and believe me, there will be one after another if you were paying attention when you studied Humanities. The Louvre website is a treasure trove of information. From floorplans to a database where you can go back to for information of what and who created that statue you posed next to, to where the works of a specific master is located, you just have to take the time to navigate the website.
It also pays to research what other points of interest are near the Louvre. You can actually walk across the bridge behind the Louvre to the other side of the Seine and hike to the Musee d’Orsay. Or you can explore the Garden d’Tuileries and walk along the Rue de Rivoli and windowshop. I’d take my time going around the Louvre.. you will always find yourself in awe of all these treasures. Happy museum hopping!
