Louvre-ing It Up in Paris

     I'm going out on a limb here and saying The Louvre got its popularity from the movie The Da Vinci Code based on the novel by Dan Brown.  It wasn't because it's considered the largest or most visited museum in the world or that it contains the Mona Lisa; the movie most certainly put it on the map.  (Total sarcasm if you missed the sign).  Therefore, we had to check it out!

     The Louvre was first built as a fortress in the late 12th century and later turned into a palace; Louis XIV moved the palace in 1682, and The Louvre later became the museum it is today.  The glass pyramid was added in 1988-1989 and below awaits the lobby and entrance to the museum.  Since the pyramid's addition, attendance has nearly doubled resulting in extremely long queues.  Thank you Paris Pass for giving us butting rights!  Of course, we used our handy-dandy Lonely Planet guidebook to take us through the highlights of the museum seeing it would take 9 months to glance at every piece.

Louvre-ing it up!

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel located just outside The Louvre and built in 1806-1808 to commemorate Napoleon's victories the year before.  If only I had an arc for every victory of mine....

The glass pyramid.  I wonder how much Windex they use to make it shine.

Inside the lobby is the bottom side of the pyramid.  I resisted singing with my glass-shattering voice.

Venus de Milo sculpted in Greece sometime between 130 and 100 BC.....Yes, you heard it correctly.....BC!  The artist is still unknown and her arms were missing upon finding her.

For all of my hunters out there......

A Lamassu (a protective deity from Mesopotamia mythology) depicted here as a Winged Human-Headed Bull.

A courtyard with several sculptures, more than I had ever seen.  Considering incorporating some into my decor.

A different view of the courtyard.  Different yoga poses?  These guys rock (no pun intended) on holding still.

An artsy staircase.....sliding down the rail was AWESOME!

Pondering over a tapestry.  I still don't understand how one cleans such a work.....Vacuum?.....Tide-to-Go?

A crazy, beautiful room that we stumbled upon.

Winged Victory of Samothrace, a 2nd-century BC sculpture, created after the Nike (victory) goddess.  If you squint, you can see the swoosh.

The Mona Lisa, up close and personal.

The Mona Lisa is the most well-known piece of artwork and painted by Leonardo (not the Ninja Turtle) Da Vinci.  Excuse the head shots.

A sculpture by Michelangelo (also not to be confused with the Ninja Turtle).