The 2nd day of our Paris trip we decided to get up early and go to the Musee Du Louvre (say: mew-see duh loov-ruh), although the Parisians have shortened the name to just the "loov"). We didn't get off as early as we planned but we did leave our hotel at 9:30. Our tour guide book (RICK STEVE'S PARIS) suggested taking the city bus #69. He said #69 bus takes the same route that the tour buses take. It only cost us 1.70 euro and we got to see a lot of the city streets of Paris. We didn't care that it took a bit longer. A lot of people either take a taxi, or the Paris Metro (train system). This was a lot more fun.
The Louvre was first built in 1190 by King Phillippe-Auguste as a fortress. Four centuries of kings and emperors improved and enlarged the palace and in 1793 it was opened as a museum. Major renovations were completed in 1998. One thing that was added then was a glass pyramid, which serves as the entrance to the Louvre. As visitors go into the Louvre, they enter through the glass pyramid and take escalators down underground to the visitors center and entrance to the museum. The glass pyramid allows light down to the underground area. The glass pyramid was designed by architect I.M. Pei.
It is impossible to see everything in the Louvre in one day. Or two days. Or even three. The objets d'art include paintings, sculptures, furniture, jewelry, scientific instruments, armor, ancient burial coffins and sarcophoguses, et. We were surprised that they allowed you to take pictures in the Louvre, as other museums did not allow cameras. I don't know the names of all the things we saw, but you may recognize the Mona Lisa, The Coronation of Napoleon, and Venus de Milo. At one point my husband turned to me and said, "Isn't it incredible to believe that we are standing right in front of these things that we've heard about all our lives?" It was.
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