European Travelog D4E2: The Labyrinths of the Louvre
The Louvre is justifiably the most hyped museum in the world. It's got stuff, it's got history and it has an impeccable building to show off. Of course, many parts of the collection owe their origin to the Napoleonic looting of art that happened in the late 18th century, just as most of the British Museum in London was populated with loot from their colonies. The Louvre itself started life as a fortress in the 11th century, was transformed into a palace, and after the Revolution became a national museum. The numbers are staggering. It has close to half a million objects of which less than a tenth are displayed in over 750,000 square feet and it is estimated at at 30 seconds per object for 8 hours per day, it would take 36 days to view the entire collection. Our first sight is the La Pyramide Inversée - the inverted pyramid. Appearing to float tantalizingly above the ground, it's the same size as the famous Pyramid outside the Louvre. Designed by I M Pei, its modernity and ...