My next post will be about the museums, the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay.

Did you know that The Louvre is the largest museum in the world?  It is so large that it would take you 100 days to see all the paintings, and even then you would get only 30 seconds at each piece. That means there are 380,000 paintings in the Louvre, though not all are on display. The Louvre was not originally a museum. It was a fortress built in 1190. Under Napoleon’s reign, the 652,300 square foot museum was renamed to Musée Napoleon. He extended the Louvre’s collection of art by 5,000 pieces before he was defeated. The Mona Lisa, arguably the most famous painting in the world, is housed at the Louvre. It even has bodyguards! The Mona Lisa is not as big as most people think; it’s just 77 centimeters by 53 centimeters. (30×21 in)

♦Tip: Make sure you visit the Mona Lisa during the evening hours (Wednesdays).  My mom visited during the evening hours and didn’t have to wait in line to see the painting.

Mona Lisa

Musee du Louvre

Now for the Musée d’Orsay. The Orsay averaged 3,331,403.6 visitors from 2010-2014. There are 10 escalators and 12 elevators. There are 35,000 square metres of glass and 13.2277 tons of metallic structures. Some of the most famous Impressionist artist’s paintings, such as Van Gogh’s self-portrait are displayed there. Some other paintings at the d’ Orsay are Charing Cross Bridge by André Derain, Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent van Gogh, and The Snake Charmer by Henri Rousseau.

Self-Portrait by Van Gogh

Starry Night Over The Rhone by Van Gogh

Who’s your favorite artist? Have you been to any of the Parisian museums?