Today we left the the studio early and headed out through Les Beaux Passages to the Louvre.
Stretching 700 m . along the Seine,it's estimated it would take nine months just to glance at every artwork in the world's largest museum.
Constructed as a fortress by Philippe-Auguste in the early 13th century,the Palais du Louvre was rebuilt in the mid16th century as a royal residence; And in 1793 the Revolutionary Convention turned it into France's first national museum.
We lined up and managed to get through to security quite quickly.You then purchase your ticket by using a machine.
After we had done this a coffee was in order and a look at the floor plan to assist us with our prioritisation.
Decisions made we headed to the second floor to view French a paintings 17th century,14th century and 19th century.
As we wandered we digressed of course viewing the "Venus de Milo"and "The Dying Slave"by Michelangelo .
The Louvre's star attraction,Leonardo Da Vinci's early 16th-century painting La Joconde( Mona Lisa),resides in a climate controlled enclosure behind a wooden railing and bulletproof glass in the glass-roofed Salle des Etats.
Canadian scientists recently used infrared technology to peer through the Mona Lisa's paint layers,confirming her identity as mother of five Lisa Gherardini,wife of Florentine merchant Francesco de Gioncondo .
The name Mona Lisa comes from the Italian ma donna ( my lady) which contracts to madonna and is then shortened to mona.
It is surmised that the work was painted to commemorate the birth of her second son around 1503,when she was aged about 24.
French engineer ,Pascal Cotte determined,from using ultra high- resolutions scans that eyebrows and lashes were originally painted but have disappeared gradually,possibly from over-cleaning.
The Venus de Milo,stands 203 cm tall.
The 100-130 BC Greek marble sculpture is slightly larger than life size.
It depicts Aphrodite,the Greek goddess of beauty and love.
We continued on until we looked at each other and indicated that we were overwhelmed.It was time to go!
There is so much to see and you become so totally consumed and immersed,you need to step away for a while.
We did ,we walked back through Les Beaux Passages
,back to our studio and reflected on our visit.You need to visit the Louvre several times if you have the time to spend.
We are putting clothes back into suitcases as we are catching the train to London tomorrow morning.