Day 4 - Paris - Louvre

Our first stop on our second day in Paris was at the Louvre, the most visited museum in the world!  The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace which began as a fortress built in the late 12th century and was expanded many times to the 650,000 square feet it is today.

We entered the Louvre through the Carousel du Louvre underground by the inverted pyramid.  I know movies are not the best source of information but, from the Da Vinci Code, I always thought the inverted pyramid was actually in the museum, not outside its entrance!

 

I really found the building far more interesting than the art exhibits.  No one can dispute they have a lot of art but I didn't feel that the quality they had was comparable to the quantity. My non-art-minded opinion.  But the history of the building was really neat.  This picture in particular, the center and the left side of the building is a couple hundred years older than the right side of the building but they look completely seamless together.

However there were a few very cool things in the Louvre... Obviously it is the Louvre! ;) One of my favorite things was Napoleon's Apartment in the Richelieu Wing. Napoleon never actually lived in this apartment.  It was used as a states apartment and different heads of state lived there.

 

 

Here are a few sculptures I found interesting.

 

 

And for the crowd favorites.... Psyche and Cupid

Venus de Milo

And of course the Mona Lisa!