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Published: October 6th 2008
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I discovered that the on first Sunday of every month, the Louvre is free. Considering I found this out, three days before the first Sunday of October, and I wanted to visit the Louvre, I felt it only obligatory that I attend this Sunday. I decided to get up early and spend the entire day there. I packed a lunch, had my camera, good runners and I was ready to go. I was happy that I arrived early because there was virtually no line at the security check. After that, considering everything was free, line ups were pretty much done for that day…unless you wanted to go to the café, but I brought my lunch.
During my research on the hours and admissions of the Louvre, I also discovered that I could rent a recording devise that would guide me on a tour of the Louvre at my leisure. I wanted to get the most of the experience, so I quickly jumped on the wagon.
For the most part, the self guided tour was really helpful, once I got the hang of it. I like and appreciate art, but no means do I feel overly educated when it comes to art.
I know what the Mona Lisa is and I can point out other major works of art that anyone who isn’t living under a rock should recognise. Having said that, I find that at first I don’t easily pick up on different uses of symbolism and subtle nuances in pictures that I appreciate when pointed out to me. Furthermore, as the features are pointed out, it encourages me to strike out on my own and see what I can see. So for that encouragement, I really enjoyed the guided tour.
What bothered me a little was the guide broke down on me at one point. I was about ½ an hour into my French sculpture and painting tour when it stopped working. I had to walk all the way back to the Pyramid to get another one. Considering it was the second tour of the day, I was getting tired; I decided to take the opportunity for a coffee break. After that, I did not feel up to the 3 hours it would take me to do that tour and decided one shorter one - Egyptian and Greek artefacts. Another frustrating feature of the self guided tour was hunting for
the points of interest. For the most part, they were not hard to find. However, sometimes I felt like I was trying to so hard to find the piece the guide wanted me to look at, I was losing a bit of the experience and neglecting some of the other art. Although, I don’t think anyone can go to the Louvre and not feel that certain art has been neglected - there is just too much!
I arrived at 9:30 at the Louvre - toured around until noon, took a 30 minute break for lunch, toured around for another hour, took another 30 minute break and left the building at 5:30. I saw about half of the museum. I saw the Italian sculptures and paintings, a few of the French sculptures, the Egyptian exhibit and the Greek exhibit. Considering I have been the Greece and Egypt both twice and toured some museums there, a little of the magic was lost on me, but I did enjoy myself. Next time I go back, I am definitely going to finish seeing the French sculptures and paintings (which consists of about half of the museum), I want to take the self tour of
the architecture of the Louvre, and there is a Picasso exhibit that will be opening next week.
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