Happily, the Louvre is free on the first Sunday of every month, which it happened to be. We descended through the entrance pyramid (designed by I.M. Pei, famous architect responsible for the MIT Media Lab) and began exploring the monstrosity that is the Louvre.
Three things about the Louvre:
- It is virtually impossible to find your way around. Even with a map in hand and signs posted everywhere, we kept getting trapped in dead ends and at stairs going the wrong way.
- The crowds gather in knots around the most famous exhibits. The rooms containing the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa were packed. The rooms containing Etruscan ceramics were barren of all life.
- Whereas museums in the states oftentimes expressly forbid all photography, the Louvre "strongly discourages" flash photography. Viva la liberté!
We had a quick snack at the Cafi Marie, off to one side of the main courtyard, and made our way to the Ile de la Citi, where we checked out Notre Dame. There was a Mass going on when we trouped in with a steady stream of tourists. It felt a little odd to be trooping around the rear of the cathedral checking out the sights while a religious ceremony was underway.
The towers were closed, so we went around back, checked out the flying buttresses from the park there, then crossed the bridge to the Ile St. Louis where we had a cafi while watching the sun set over Notre Dame.
Dinner was at a pizza parlor back in Montparnasse, to test Michael Yoon's assertion that the pizza in Paris is horrific (it wasn't that bad). We then retired to L'Odessa, a bar near our hotel, for a nightcap.
Three gentlemen of Paris.
A bridge over the Seine at night.
