Even though Paris has about 150 museums (!!!), the Louvre is by far the most visited -- all because of one very famous lady: the Mona Lisa. But what else is there besides her painting? OMG -- so much that I don't think you could see it all in one day. And we did not have all day so Ryan and I did an abbreviated tour in which we limited ourselves to about an hour and a half. Our main objective (just like everyone else's) was to see the Mona Lisa, and then anything after that was bonus. So we did just that. Upon entering underneath I.M. Pei's enormous glass pyramid structure, we made a beeline for that smile made so famous by Leonardo da Vinci.

And after we found our way through the maze of hallways and staircases, and fought the crowds to finally see her up close (well, as close as you can get at still 15-feet away) encased behind bulletproof glass -- we gazed at her with the same smile and let out a great sigh of relief. She was quite smaller in person than I had imagined, maybe because of the larger-than-life reputation she carried, and especially since she had a giant wall all to herself. But she commanded everyone's attention in the room and had a never-ending sea of paparazzi before her.

We had our moment with the great Mona Lisa, then enjoyed the rest of our time wandering back through the hallways, exploring the galleries, taking in as much art, history, and architecture as we could, watching people, and pretending we were priceless statues. In the end after we exhausted our eyeballs and tired feet, we realized what else was inside this amazing museum: us. :)

And if you make it to Paris but not inside the Louvre, chances are you can still catch the Mona Lisa painting elsewhere... and maybe even take it home with you. At least you won't need bulletproof glass for this one. 

Stay tuned -- more pics from my Paris trip still to come (including people in cafés and the over-the-top Versailles palace)...

In the meantime, in case you missed the previous related blogs, click here:

Paris: Best Ways to See the Eiffel Tower

Paris: People on Bikes Everywhere!