My bruises have bruises. I'm blaming the cheerleading. Review writing is a whole lot less dangerous....
My bruises have bruises. I'm blaming the cheerleading. Review writing is a whole lot less dangerous.
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Perceived by many to be home to one of the best art collections in the world, I would describe the Louvre as, well, not bad. Maybe that’s a little unfair – they certainly had some magnificent pieces on display, but the setting for these, when compared to some of the other galleries in the rest of Europe and America that I’d been to this year lacked a certain, something. That special je ne sais quoi (no objections - since we’re in France I’m allowed a smattering of French) that makes a gallery a wonderful visiting experience.
It was back in 1190 that the then King Phillippe-Auguste ordered the construction of a fortress to protect the city. In the 4 centuries following, it was improved and enlarged by the reining monarchs. This building is now the Louvre gallery, which most recently (well 1989) had a huge glass pyramid added to the main courtyard
through which visitors enter the main building.
The collection here is pretty varied – we have European paintings and sculptures from the1400s onwards, not to mention Oriental, Egyptian and Roman artefacts. Some of the most well known items on display include the “Venus de Milo” statue (semi-naked woman, no arms), Géricault’s “Raft of Medusa” (semi-naked men – lots of them – spread-eagled across a raft) and of course de Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” (tiny and dark in person, and not nearly as enticing as some of the pictures make out, although the bullet proof glass could have had something to do with this).
As I mentioned, I had no problems with the art on display, it was the manner in which the pieces were displayed to which I objected. Even on a dull winter weekend, the place was packed with Japanese tourists clicking away, oblivious to the signs screaming “No Photographs” in a number of languages, not to mention the universal language of pictures – how a camera in a red circle with a slash through it could be misinterpreted I don’t know….. There were some wonderful views from the windows, but the actual interior was nothing special – scuffed floors and fingerprinted glass do not thoughts of a typical palace invoke.
There were very few signs to the different sections (such a contrast with the Met in New York in which every door was labelled and sign posts were positioned at every turning) and all the “important” pieces were in close proximity which, although time saving for people who wanted to “do” the gallery in a very short period of time, meant that swarms of visitors were huddled in the same 2 rooms. Crowd control is obviously not their forte. Although there were guides in most rooms, from eavesdropping it soon became apparent that the majority were not only bored and un-knowledgeable, but mono-lingual too. Not the best mix for a major tourist destination within the city.
We had to go at weekend since we were there for such a short time, but I have to say I would not recommend Saturdays and Sundays – even at just after 9am (we’re early risers in our family) it was getting busy.
· Extras
Guided tours are available in a number of languages, and there are films and concerts throughout the year. There are shops, cafes, restaurants and toilets within the building, and there’re even facilities for exchanging money although the rates for Francs were pretty steep – how the Euro will affect this I don’t know. Some of the shops were specialist – there was one only selling books for example – but there were many littler outlets and temporary stands vending the usual tourist souvenirs – 50p postcards and toy statues and so on. We didn’t eat in a restaurant at the time, but I can acknowledge that the ice creams at the poshest café were, well, delicious.
· Entrance Fees
I paid 46 F which was roughly £4.50 when we went – quite expensive as student entrances go. The adult ticket was about £6 (now about 10 Euros), but again these vary depending on time of day, and the exhibitions you wanted to see (some carried a surcharge). On the positive side, the ticket was valid all day, so you could leave for lunch at a more reasonably priced place, and return later for more browsing.
Overall, while I enjoyed my visit, I wouldn’t necessarily want to return on my next trip to the city. Definitely worth going once, but more than that is debatable.
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I vaguely remember travelling through underground on the underground railway in Paris on our way to some outlying police station to pick up the document indicating that my accident of the previous evening (hit by skateboarder - resulting in x-ray in hospital) was the full responsibility of the father of the boy and I would not be meant to be liable for any expense relating to the x-ray being taken... jes ≈≈≈≈{; -)-{{:::{||||||<
Sigisbert 18.02.2003 19:16
I live in Paris and i agree with you . Le louvre is too big and there's way too many people in there . I rather go to the Musée D'orsay where impressionist painters are exposed or in the Centre Pompidou to see Modern Art.
The best Gallery in le louvre is Egyptian Artefacts but i think i sould go to the British museum to see more of it.
Soho_Black 25.01.2003 00:19
Sounds more like the kind of place you go to just so you can say you have then anything else! Not that I'm a big fan of art galleries!
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Advantages: the biggest collection of art work in the world, including the Mona Lisa and Venus of Milo Disadvantages: too big to do everything in one day
dth999 23.10.2009 (25.10.2009)
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Review of Musée du Louvre
Jan 21st, 2003
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