Our entrance time at the Louvre was 10:30 so we left l'Orangerie a little after 10:00. We had only spent 45 minutes there. Using that word "sacrilegious" again, I know that for some people allocating so little time to a place that has so much in it was just that. The image of tourists racing from place to place just to say they'd been there. But that's not what visiting l'Orangerie was about. We had wanted to see Water Lilies and we saw them, pondered them, enjoyed them. For the rest, although had I been on my own I would have cut back on some of my Louvre time--because I have been there before--and seen a bit more, I knew that we would still have an amazing experience at the Louvre.
The Louvre. The last time I was inside the Louvre, outside of April when we went into the Galeries to find a restroom, was in 1976. It was at the end of a three-week "see 12 countries in 18 days" camping tour around Europe that my group landed in Paris. We waited an hour to get into the Louvre and, by the time we were inside, there was an hour before closing time. So my friend Lizzie and I decided we needed to see Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo. Which were all in different parts of the museum (they still are.) So we hurried from one part to another, to another until at last, exhausted but having accomplished our crazy mission, we collapsed on a bench. We were moaning about our aching feet until I looked up and realized we were in a room filled with the most wrenching scenes, Goyas and El Grecos. I nudged Lizzie and said "We don't really know anything about suffering, look at those faces."
Anyway, back to October 17, 2019 and walking through the Tuileries:
We arrived and were quickly admitted at our appointed time. Reading reviews on the Net both before and after our trip, people are divided on the value of the Paris Pass. As am I. Certainly in terms of Mercy's pass, because, up to 18 years of age, children are admitted to museums free. Also, according to several reviewers, Mercy would have been admitted with us on our "jump the line" part of the Pass so was it worth buying her the Paris Pass? Most of the attractions we went to in Paris were part of the Museum Pass anyway. The "travel the Metro anywhere within Paris for four days" tickets were great and we used them several times a day. Hopping on and off the Metro was very convenient. Vis a vis some attractions, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Catacombs, we had to buy those tickets separately. Not that the Catacombs would be at the top of most people's list but they certainly were at the top of Mercy's ;) My advice for people thinking about the Paris Pass would be to look carefully at how much you think you can see in the time you are going to be there and add the costs up as well as research wait times. One final piece of advice: even with our Paris Museum Pass, we still booked an appointment time with the Louvre; it didn't cost anything to do that and we watched the jump the line people line up with other people who had "jumping the line" passes.
Just as in 1976, we had a list of works we absolutely wanted to see. Laurie and Mercy hadn't seen Mona before so, yep, we were going to see her. And Venus. You can't miss the Winged Victory, it is at the top of a main flight of stairs:
So many Phones being held up. Selfie sticks are a no-no in most Paris attractions although we saw a few at Versailles. Most people are content to use their arms. We walked through halls of ancient sculpture. The architecture of the halls themselves was worth goggling at:
The photos below are a small representation of everything I saw. They are some (not all) of my favorites:
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| I like this one because her face reminds me of Mercy |
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| Raphael has been a favorite of mine since I visited Florence on that same 1976 tour |
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| This reminded me of the holy pictures I had as a child |
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| I thought this was beautiful, one of my favorites of David's paintings. |
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| The sign below this status mentions that nowadays it is called the "selfie statue" but it is actually Apollo slaying the serpent. |
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| I love the expression on this Madonna's face |
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| Joan of Arc listening to the voices |
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| La Marseillaise of course, another of David's famous works |
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| I think this painting was on a biscuit tin that we had when I was a little girl; a picture I had always liked. Then I read that it was painted by a woman!! It was the first painting I saw that day (and I think about the only one I came across) that was painted by a woman. |
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| Athena/Artemis and the stag in such magnificent surroundings is an example of all the statuary we saw. Room after room, all of it stunning. |
We did of course see Mona. There was a long line in front of her but it moved quickly and people moved aside once they had their photo so it was all quite orderly. It IS a bit crazy that I include a photo of a painting that virtually everyone in the Western world can see anywhere. But this is MY photo and it represents a special experience: seeing her again after 43 years, this time with my daughter and granddaughter.
We spent 2 and a half hours in the Louvre wandering, wandering, enjoying--and not getting separated! We had lunch at the cafeteria area in the Louvre and then, checking the time, agreed that we would take the Metro to Abbesses and get those ducks! Which we did.
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| And, at this point, 3:15 p.m., we were starting to feel a bit like this but gamely we pressed onward. To Sainte Chapelle we go!! |
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