by Garry Keown

Created on: August 09, 2009   Last Updated: August 10, 2009

On the first evening in Paris, we decided to get a train down to the city centre. If nothing else we just wanted to get our bearings for the first day's exploring. So down we went, and we were shocked to see that we got off the train beside Notre Dame! Inspired by seeing one of the most beautiful buildings in the world purely by accident, we ventured further. To our great surprise, we took only a further five minutes to come accross the Louvre. By this stage, it was fairly late on. We thought that to enter at this late stage would not have done it justice, so we spent some time in the courtyard, planning to come down first thing in the morning.

The courtyard is massive. I took a long panoramic video of this on our camera, and my friends were amazed by the sheer scale when i showed them. Ornately carved statues grace the top of the main building. Each one of these (there must have been hundreds.), was unique, some linking in with others and some very individual. We simply sat on a little bench, and looked up, in awe at the humbling scene before us. We dragged ourselves away, and left for the hotel. We awaited the next day with bated breath.

We got up the next morning, and set off for the Louvre. We were a bit behind schedule (we were in Paris after all!), but we were still there at around tennish. Already there were large queues forming. We approached the entrance, with butterflies as big as elephants in our tummies.

The entrance is in the form of a large pyramid. This we knew from reading the Da Vinci code. It was amazing, especially as the sun was shining, and it was twenty nine degrees. Fountains shot up, creating rainbows in the spray they left in their wake. Although there was a long que, this moved pretty quickly and soon we were descending. So ornate, yet modern, the Pyramid and lobby were actually only added to the original Palais de louvre in the late eighties to early nineties by Francois Mitterand.

The Louvre itself began construction around 1190, and due to its grand scale, was not truely completed for many centuries. It was not opened to the public until after the French Revolution. It was initially used to hold the spoils of Napolean's victories at war. It continued to develop, right up to the aforementioned additions of Mitterand in 1993. Today, it is one of the most visited museums in the world, holding well over 35,000 pieces, over an area of 60,000 square metres! Located on the banks of the seine, it's as beautiful from the outside

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>