9/01 6:00pm Paris, France
The Lourve was ridiculous. For three hours I pretty much just wandered from room to room, looking at all that I could, but in the end, I hardly got through anything. The place is just absolutely massive and you pretty much just get lost looking at stuff. I made sure to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo at the beginning of the time I was there, but after that, I ended up in so many different places that I lost track. I know I saw a lot of italian sculptures and paintings, and greek sculptures. Then medieval art, egyptian art, and who knows what else. And not only is there something in every corner, but the rooms and ceilings themselves have eleborate paintings on them. You would turn one corner and then there would be another room, or a staircase or a hallway with 10 more rooms off it. My favorite, besides the Mona Lisa of course, was the room with the pages from old books that were painted, probably because I took History of the Book for my senior seminar, so I actually understood the meaning behind them all. After spending about 3 hours literally wandering through the rooms and discovering things, I still wasn't feeling my best, so I decided that it was time to head back to the hostel. 3 hours is also a long time, but not long enough for the Lourve. Well, getting out of the Lourve was a challenge, and they don't make it easy! Not only are you lost about 1/2 a mile from where you started, but the "Sortie" signs (Exit signs) are meant to continue taking you through the Lourve. 30 minutes later, I found the main lobby. Then I took the Metro back. As I stepped off the steps at the Metro near the Hostel, I look over and saw exactly what I had been looking for, a shopping center. They have tons of grocery stores with a small amount of items, but this was more similar to Walmart or Target, although a little smaller. I'm sure I was more excited about it than I should have been, but I was happy to leave with some hummus, fruit, and crackers. The simple things in life lol.
