Mona Lisa and her adoring crowds

If I thought that the diverse crowds at Sacré Coeur were incredible, the Louvre was a completely different story. Languages of every kind filled my ears as my mom and I filed through the lines.

I tried to guess each one. German? Dutch? Japanese? Many were Italian.

Although we got in the museum only a half hour after it opened, already the crowds pressed in around us. Not only was I overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people, but also the sheer size of 

the Louvre. It was first a palace has three separate wings connected by marble staircases and long hallways. Many of the ceilings are ornately painted with marble statues standing in sharp relief against the walls' murals. I felt like I was walking around with my mouth open.

We walked through a hall of Egyptian artifacts (including mummies), halls of French paintings, Roman and Greek antiquities and finally decided to brave Dedon, the Italian paintings wing and thus, the home of the Mona Lisa.

Dedon was incredibly crowded for a August Monday at noon and it was easy to tell any famous painting because of the small crowd that gathered around it.

The painting that gathered the largest group by far was, of course, the Mona Lisa.

Three guards stood post by the small frame. A plane of glass covered the picture and straining crowds were held back by velvet ropes. Every so often one of the guards would come up to the crowd, unsuccessfully trying to push the people back.

At first I couldn't even see da Vinci's masterpiece except for the backs of people holding their cameras high above the heads, clicking picture after picture.

Worming my way through I finally got a glimpse of the smiling portrait. 

I wanted to sit and study the painting, to try and understand her draw and her fame. But with crowds pushing me, I only stayed to snap a photo. 

My mom wrote August 23, 1978:

"Today we went to the Louvre. I finally got to see Mona Lisa. What a crowd around that picture; everyone snorting and stamping over a piece of canvas."

I don't know if I can decide on a favorite part of the Louvre. My mom told me she would pick Napoleon's apartments...or the Egyptian cat mummies. (And I think I can agree with her.)

Napoleon's apartment (left)

and Egyptian cat mummies (right)

Two more things to note about the Louvre:
1. My mom and I were chastised by the guards for taking pictures of the crowds. Luckily the guard didn't seem to mind.  
2. I set an alarm off by pointing at a painting. Apparently my finger crossed one of the infrared beams.