Visit to the Louvre

Excavated medieval ruins, in the lower level of the Louvre.

We got off the train for the Louvre and stood in line for tickets for about 30 minutes... kids were altogether free, no ticket required (the same was true of Centre George Pompidou). We hadn't expected there to be anything to look at in the Louvre train stop, but you actually come out into a relatively high-end mall that has in addition to the stores a beautiful, large scale model of the Louvre, and excavated walls from the moats that protected Paris centuries ago... at least we think that's what they were. Similar excavations inside the Louvre (see right) lead you through the original moat into the museum galleries.

The boys enjoyed the museum well enough right at the beginning, and enjoyed navigating us using the Nintendo electronic guides. The boys enjoyed the Sphinxes and the weaponry in the ancient Egyptian artifacts area. After lunch, they enjoyed the sculptures of the Greek and Roman gods, especially the ones that they recognized. We did make a point of seeing the Mona Lisa. The room was so crowded that a six-year-old could only see it if he were lifted up above the crowd.

Boys getting their Nintendo 3DS guides ready.

La Vierge et l'Enfant au chardonneret, Master of the Castello Nativity