Louvre

Louve is a must see. Of course, it will take days to check out every collection. I arrived just right after 9am, so there's a very short line for security check. It's really exciting to get in the famous glass pyramid.  I already had the museum pass so I skipped the ticket line.

Then I saw the tourist mob heading to the same direction, they were heading to see Mona Lisa. On the way to see Mona Lisa, Winged Victory of Samothrace greeted us on the stairs. It's so beautiful and jaw-droppingly majestic. I am not exaggerating.

This was my view of Mona Lisa. I had to wait for people in the front to finish their photo op and leave, then I got a chance to be in the front. Everybody's reaction to the painting was "so small!". The story behind it is that Mona Lisa was a merchant's wife, her husband commissioned Da Vinci to paint her. It's not exactly the most interesting background story, isn't it? So why is she the most high-profile piece of artwork at Louvre? The more you think about it, the more you feel her smirking back at you. She really got us, didn't she?

You can take pictures at Louvre as long as you don't use flash because flash damages artworks. I am grateful I can take the mementos with me. French people are really generous when it comes to sharing art and culture. With the best collections in the world, the admission of Louvre is not even expensive. You probably pay the same amount of money or even more at any ordinary museum in North America. 

Venus de Milo was another tourist mob's favorite. What a beauty! She was surrounded by a big crowd. Again, you have to fight your way to get a decent picture without somebody's big head in your shot. Very challenging, but I find the whole tourist mob thing amusing. It's like a party down there. 

When I was leaving Louvre, this was the ticket line on the right. It was not that long but not short either. Museum pass was definitely helpful in this situation.

Louvre official website