I say (1) because I hope there will be more visits after this :)
On Sunday we missioned to the #1 tourist destination spot in the world. Yup, the whole world. The Louvre gets about 3.8 million visitors a year (according to the wikipedia page - as far as facts are concerned, I can only confirm that it has definitely had at least 2 visitors this year), and even though most people just walk in, snap a pic of Mona and then go on their merry way, I think this statistic speaks a little hope about humanity. If the #1 spot to visit is an art museum and not a McDonalds, we still have a chance.
The cool thing about the Louvre is that it's free to everyone on the first Sunday of every month (it's also free to students under 18, EU citizens under 26, and famous people). Pretty great, considering that till about 5 hours ago Natasha and I had about €2 between us. Armed with some fruit for snacks, camera phones and the knowledge our many guidebooks had given us, we set out to queue 30 min before opening at the underground entrance that you access via the metro (line 1, the "Palace Royal - Musee de Louvre" stop). This is definitely the best way to get to the place: even though the outside entrance is pretty (sky, air, glass pyramids), the snow would not have been fun to stand in for 3 hours. Also, early is better than late afternoon, especially on a weekend. We were basically alone in the place for most of our visit (unitl we hit the big guns).
Aside from that practical advice: we had such a lovely time. The actual palace itself is so beautiful, so just walking around is a pleasure. It's also enormous, which is why we intend to go back. We wandered the sculpture garden, awed at intricacies traced in cold stone. We marvelled at the sheer size of Byzantian relics, and walked through the history of our civilisation represented visually in glass boxes. Our breath steamed up the glass the separated us from millions worth in delicate gold and diamonds; our pupils dilated in the dark rooms that housed fragile sketchbooks containing the absent-minded doodles of incredibly famous artists.
The Louvre is beautiful and touristy all wrapped in one. Please go, if you get the chance. Pick a painting - for no good reason other than the fact that you like the look of it - and sit in front of it for a while. Soaking up art and history is so good for you. It makes you feel small, but in a good way. It makes you feel incapable, in a hopeful way. It makes you feel proud, in a safe way. It makes you feel human, in an awesome way.
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