We then walked down the side of the Sienne to the Lourve. This was at 2.20pm and there was once again a long queue to get in. it is a huge complex, two big courtyards and in the first bigcourtyard they have built this great huge glass pyramid1 (think Di vinci Code!) I was fascinated, how the hell do we get in? As it was we had quick in passes so escaped the waiting (thank god) and then got subjected to security 3 times (each time you wanted to go to a new part of the building). People were everywhere - the part that got me was these large number of school groups - from highschool to ..... kindy! I kid you not! who in their right mind would want to look after a group of 4 year olds in a place teeming with thousands of people? needless to say the teachers of all groups did look harrassed!
Of course the first thing we had to find was dear old Mona and it was a case of follow the crowds! Up and Up and Up! escalators this time.
I have to say when we came upon it I was surprised. No queues or anything. Only one security guard. I thought it would be smaller ( I had been warned) and yes there were heaps of tourist taking a photo! So we pushed and slowly worked out way to front! yes I got to stand at the front of the tape to hold back the hoards! admittedly I had to stand my ground against some nasty - you guessed it Asians - but Dave just stood there like a tank! so got a photo
After that it was a case of exploring - saw some wonderful paintings - you knew which ones were important by the number of people in front. Lots of tour parties combined with school groups didnt help, but after seeing Mona I didnt really care. Dave lasted 3 hours so that wasnt bad. got to see Venus as well. (or Aphrodite).
Was was impressive, apart from the sheer size of the place was the ceilings were also painted in frescoes and the lovely long galleries that led onto other galleries etc.
At the end we paid extra and went into this Di vinci Exhibition which was based around his painting of St Anne (which was there). What was great was it started with sketches of the diff. parts of the bodies and faces, and also a large full size drawing of the painting which he then changed. They say he took 15 years to do it, and then died before it was fully finished. The Lourve restored it to full glory a few years ago. Anyway they also had some other of this paintings there on loan, so I felt quite humbled really. Couldnt take any photos tho. of this.
After that it was a case of exploring - saw some wonderful paintings - you knew which ones were important by the number of people in front. Lots of tour parties combined with school groups didnt help, but after seeing Mona I didnt really care. Dave lasted 3 hours so that wasnt bad. got to see Venus as well. (or Aphrodite).
Was was impressive, apart from the sheer size of the place was the ceilings were also painted in frescoes and the lovely long galleries that led onto other galleries etc.
At the end we paid extra and went into this Di vinci Exhibition which was based around his painting of St Anne (which was there). What was great was it started with sketches of the diff. parts of the bodies and faces, and also a large full size drawing of the painting which he then changed. They say he took 15 years to do it, and then died before it was fully finished. The Lourve restored it to full glory a few years ago. Anyway they also had some other of this paintings there on loan, so I felt quite humbled really. Couldnt take any photos tho. of this.
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