Yesterday we walked from our apartment to the Louvre. On the way, we went by this Jeff Koons sculpture called “Bouquet of Tulips.”
We stopped for some ice cream in the Tuileries Gardens before tackling the museum. It was pretty terrible.
The Louvre was so, so crowded. The lines were just insane. We had timed tickets, but the line for our slot was still hundreds of people long when we arrived. Luckily for us, a guard came over, checked our tickets, and then told the people at the back of the line (aka us, plus a few other people) that we could go in through side entrance rather than through the pyramid. So we walked over there and went right in, probably cutting about 45 minutes of waiting from our day.
My sister, niece and nephew really wanted to go see the Mona Lisa, since they have never been to Paris before. They could not get close of course. But, my nephew is tall, so he just stuck his phone up and took a snap! He laughed and said he did it just to annoy me, then showed me the photo he took yesterday at the Orsay of the Van Gogh self portrait, which he deliberately took at an off kilter angle to make it doubly annoying 😂. He said he considered resting his phone on my head while he took it but thought violence would ensue. So behold my nephew’s painting snaps as his contribution to this report 😂😂😂
We spent the rest of our time in less crowded areas of the museum. The detailing is just amazing
You could have a very large dinner party at the table in the Napoleon Apartments
Speaking of dinner, last night we had dinner at the Brasserie du Louvre. Lighting was a bit challenging, so no menu photos. Cocktails
Gougeres stuffed with truffle cheese
Asparagus with egg mousse and hazelnuts
Burrata with green gazpacho
Sea bream crudo
Sister and husband had the sole meurniere. This came with a salad
Nephew and niece both got the tuna with zucchini
And I had a spring vegetable risotto.
Complimentary pre dessert of walnut and currant cookies
Husband had the Saint Honore with raspberries.
And a few got the caffe gourmand. Niece swapped out a latte for the espresso.
Dinner was very good, but it was definitely a…leisurely experience. Over three hours! Luckily we had nothing else planned for the evening!