Emily Starbuck Gerson is a travel junkie and professional writer based in Austin, Texas. She runs a travel blog, Maiden Voyage, geared toward people in their 20s (and others young at heart).
When you are traveling to a new city for the first time, it’s tempting to see every major tourist attraction you’ve ever heard of. But what they don’t tell you in the guidebooks is that not every attraction is what it’s cracked up to be.
When visiting Paris, the gargantuan art museum, The Louvre, is always on first-time visitors’ must-see list. It contains Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and many other famous works. It was made even more famous by Dan Brown’s blockbuster book, The DaVinci Code. But is it worth it?
When I visited Paris for the first time, I heard that the Louvre was so massive, you could spend weeks trying to visit all 35,000 items exhibited there. I also loved The DaVinci Code, which greatly romanticized the historical museum. I wanted to see as much as possible, so when allotting my activities for my four days there, I planned to spend nearly an entire day exploring the behemoth museum.
The Louvre is full of many incredible masterpieces, such as the Venus de Milo and Wings of Victory sculptures. There are also thousands of incredible and massive paintings, many of which are often seen in posters and textbooks. I greatly enjoyed strolling throughout the museum….for about two and a half hours. After that, I was tired of getting lost (it’s a maze) and pushing through crowds. After a while, all of the paintings and sculptures began to look the same. I was also disappointed by the Mona Lisa; it was extremely small, enclosed in a bulletproof glass case, and surrounded by pushy crowds. It was very hard to get up front to see it and take a good picture.
The verdict? The Louvre is definitely worth seeing at east once if you have never been, but do not devote a whole day (or even half a day) to it. Unless you are an art history major, you will likely not want to, or need to, spend more than just a few hours at the museum. Be sure to see some of the major works – that’s why you’re going, isn’t it? But there are other fantastic ways to spend your day. Be sure to divide up your precious time between Paris’s other gems, such as Père Lachaise Cemetery, Notre Dame cathedral, Versailles, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, The Tuileries Garden, and more.
Emily Starbuck Gerson
www.EmilyStarbuck.com
http://maiden-voyage-travel.com
thx for the insight, i’ve been to paris but never visited le louvre
me too – have been to Parsi but never been to the Louvre . I will go next time but my other 3 trips just didnt allow time for it … I had other things to see and do!
so, no sweeping statements about ‘all travellers’ visit the Louvre or any other place in any country, city or area ‘cos we dont ,,, unless you are on a group tour where you have to go where the tour takes you… and I dont!
I’m a travel writer who only writes about things i have done or have seen and i only go to places i want to go to , not whats fashoinable or where i ’should’ go
happy travels everyone!!
i went but didn’t have enough time, I was there the whole day and I need like a week! =)
Great Place, Thank You for sharing
nice share buddy, keep up the good work