The Louvre

Today we explored the area near the Louvre. First we went to Ile de la Cité which is an island in the Seine River. It is where Notre Dame is located and also this chapel:

Saint-Chapelle, a 13th century gothic cathedral.

We were going to go inside but it cost 10€ per adult and had a long line so we decided to check out a nearby fountain instead.

Notre-Dame from afar.

Unfortunately, the fountain had no water so we walked along to Seine towards the Louvre for our 3pm prepaid ticket time slot.

We got their early so we walked across the street to the Tuileries Gardens to find a shady spot to relax.

Bird pictures by Asa

Finally it was time for our visit and we walked back over to the Louvre. We brought our stroller since there was lots of walking today and when we got to the entrance to the Louvre, a guard saw the stroller, said “Oh a baby? You go to the front!” and took us up to the door to bypass the long line. Now, Nova isn’t quite a baby but we weren’t complaining. We got inside and saw the French sculptures and French paintings. Below are some of our favorites:

We were getting sort of tired and decided we better try and find the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo before the kids started losing it so we followed the mob of people going to see the Mona Lisa. It has its own room and is encased in bulletproof glass. When you get in the room it’s nearly impossible to get close because there are about 100 other people all pushing to try and get close and everyone raising their phones up to try and get a picture of it.

Nole’s best picture from within the crowd.

I was ready to wait and push forward though, knowing the kids needed to see it closer. That’s when I heard Nole calling my name. A guard had seen him with the stroller and said, “Babies, this way!”. I tried to follow with the other kids and she said, no only the little one. Then she saw Esme and said, “Oh, she can go too.” Then she shrugged and pushed us all through. They lead us up right in front of the painting and I snapped this picture:

So there we were with the Mona Lisa, our family on the inside of the roped off area, and the throng of 100 people on the other side of the rope. Then another guard came up and yelled, “Take one picture and go”. So I took this one:

I should have held down the shutter to take multiples but I was just so stunned that we just took our one picture and walked, dazed, from the room.

The ceiling just outside of the Mona Lisa room.

Then we made our way to the Venus de Milo taking in more art along the way.

We left the Louvre and took the Metro back to our apartment, stopping for a treat on the way. Esme spotted her name on the subway tiles then Asa found his too.