I'd been to this museum/gallery a few times on my last trip to Paris in early 2007, but wanted to explore it some more. Sharon had not been there before and was also keen to explore. It's a massive museum and in my opinion by far the best in the world, certainly the best I've ever been to. It holds a massive collection of artworks, is held in an amazing building that was once the royal residence of the French monarchy, and is simply enormous. There are amazing paintings by the likes of Leonardo da Vinci (including the most famous painting of all, La Joconde aka The Mona Lisa), Pannini (who has some amazingly detailed paintings), Raphael and Michelangelo (as well as some sculptures). The size of some of the paintings is overwhelming.
There is also a great section on African art that was very impressive and the as always impressive Egyptian art and antiquities. We also got to see the excavation of the amazing remaining foundations and dungeon area of the original medieval fortress that was on the site where the Musée du Louvre now stands. There was also a great section of some of Napoleon III apartment suites that have been recreated. Hugely extrvagant, as decadent as the rooms and halls at the Château de Versailles.
We stayed exploring inside for over five hours and I could easily have stayed much longer. When I return to Paris further exploration is in order. Today's Weather
Slightly overcast most of the day, sunny at times. Temperature around 8 to 11 C
