Off and rolling to the Louvre with pre-paid tickets in hand. The Musée du Louvre (the Louvre Museum or simply The Louvre) is one of the world’s largest museums with nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century exhibited over 652,300 square feet. Located on the Right Bank of the River Seine in the 1st arrondissement, the Louvre receives more than 8 million visitors a year. The Louvre is the world’s most visited museum.
Like the Smithsonian Institute, it would take days to see everything in the Louvre, we elected to see specific galleries in order to see more of the rest of Paris. That makes a good reason to return to the Louvre again (and again . . . and again.)
What hasn’t been said about one of the world’s seminal museums that is located in a former royal palace and holds many of the world’s iconic pieces of art? The Louvre is amazing in its depth of art, artists, media, and history.
After accessing the Louvre’s entrance through the underground Carousel du Louvre shopping mall (with a minor delay when security screening were briefly bewildered by Adam’s juggling balls), Adam was our guide through the Louvre. So hard to narrow down choices, but included in our visit was (of course) the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, and the Code of Hammurabi. We visited the art of Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, and the Renaissance.
Adam and his fiancée Liz participated in Europe’s growing “Love Lock” phenomenon. Spreading across Europe is the new tradition of leave a padlock, often engraved or marked with lovers’ names to a famous landmark. On the Pont des Arts bridge across the River Seine, Adam left a lock to commemorate his and Liz’s visit to the “City of Lights.”
Now the Métro to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris’ most famous street. A cross between Rodeo Drive, Fifth Avenue, Regent Street, and Saville Row; lined with chestnut trees leading west to the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile. The Arc de Triomphe (Triumphal Arch) is dedicated to those who fought and died for France in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its surfaces. Beneath the Arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Access to the Arc de Triomphe is by underground passage under the traffic circle surrounding Place Charles De Gaulle.
End of a long day and back to the Montmartre district for dinner. We tour down the Boulevard de Clichy and see both elegant and dive establishments along the lane. We have dinner across the street from the famous Moulin Rouge (Red Windmill) cabaret, famous for the Can-Can, Toulouse-Lautrec, and the 2001 Academy Award winning movie of the same name.
After dinner it was off to see the view of Paris from Sacré-Cœur Basilica at the top of Butte Montmartre . All in all a great day for everyone with frequent stops along the way to sample some of the wonderful Parisian wines at local bistros throughout the city.
An Italian Point Of View 
Awesome! This is first time I’ve ever seen pics inside the Louvre and I was always curious. And I had heard of the “love locks” phenomenon and that’s cool the kids could put of their own there! Absolutely terrific pics! Thank you for another great read 🙂
I only wish we had a week for the Louvre alone, it is an amazing museum.