This question arose after my second visit amidst the crowds on ' free Sunday' when this ancient palace opens its doors to the masses. And the masses come - mostly on a pilgrimage to see the Mona Lisa it seems.
On my first visit we had just wandered aimlessly along the endless corridors, depressed by the Egyptians and finally completely overwhelmed by the number of 17th century French portraits of nobility. I had felt rather ashamed to admit that I had to urgently escape this bastion of art to find a café.
So this time we were armed with a map and a plan and felt very pleased to have found Rubens and his beauties. We had a quiet sojourn with the Flemish masters and even found some sweet German and Scandanavian paintings in the far corner of the second floor of the third section of the museum. Even there I felt claustrophobic and had to have a little restorative chocolate before risking the journey to the first floor to join the flow to Salle 6 which was especially constructed for 'La Joconde' as the locals call her: 'Où est La Joconde?' 'Where's the Mona Lisa mum?' 'Dové Mona Lisa?'. Luckily Salle 6 is a big room with fortified crowd barriers and additional security guards to cope with the mounting hysteria of seeing this most famous of faces. Mostly I was struck by all these people holding up their little cameras above the crowds to snap (without flash) this tiny and exquisite painting. Then it was definitely time to escape, finding a nearby café pour un thé vert au menthe. Delicieux!
