It’s a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Louvre. It’s stunning, the largest and one of the most important art galleries in the world. Some 35,000 pieces of art across 780,000 square feet. It hosted 8.7 million visitors in 2024.
Thankfully I had a 09:00 am entry and headed for the Richelieu wing, which offered me the joy of an almost empty set of spaces. I had the French sculptures, the over the top Napoleon III apartments and the North Europe art almost all to myself (even a room full of Rembrandts).
Finally it was time to head for the Italian masters. It’s a bit of a shame because I love a lot of the Italian masters but with massive volumes or tourists trying to get their shot (or worse selfie) with the Mona Lisa it was a brief trip through. It sounds like the Louvre is looking at moving the Mona Lisa to a new space where it can better accommodate large crowds (and ticketing it separately) which I am all for!
This about as close as I was going to get.
Time to swing by the Venus De Milo before heading to the more peaceful Arts of the Orient.
