Christmas in Europe – A Visit to the Louvre

When we were here in summer, we spent a lot of time doing outdoor photography as the weather was brilliant.  Therefore, on this trip, we very much looked forward to going into the Louvre.  In spite of being off-peak, it was still extremely crowded inside .. imagine what it’d be like in the peak tourist season.

Our local guide took us around in lightning speed and some in the group were really annoyed as this was their first trip to the Louvre and they resented the pace at which we were being rushed through.  When we got to the Mona Lisa, the room was packed and as you got to the front row, you had a minute to admire her before the museum guard started moving people along.  We were glad when the guided tour was over and we could make our own way around to appreciate the artwork before moving along.  We also decided to look for the seated Gudea so that we could see the real version of the replica that we have. Gudea was the ruler of the city state of Lagash and he ruled from 2144-2124 B.C. We were amazed at the huge hall full of mesopotamian history.  One would need weeks to truly appreciate the amazing collection of artwork, but we had to be satisfied with a day’s visit.

Helen