A New Experience at The Louvre

Europe 2015 and others 703Our final day in Paris and our destination is The Musee du Louvre.  This is by far one of the largest museums that my students have visited, and the layout is both daunting and a bit overwhelming. Before entering the museum we had some time to enjoy the famous entry pyramid designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei and admire the courtyard of the former palace. Once inside we were able to appreciate the beauty of the winding staircase with the integrated elevator to accommodate visitors with disabilities.  A new feature that we experienced was the hand-held individual audio/visual guides.  These proved to be extremely useful and both simplified and assisted the process of navigating through the museum.  There is a bit of a learning curve with these devices depending on your generation. Furniture at the Louvre - Cradle That is because they are actual Nintendo controllers.  If you were a fan of these video games, then you were at a terrific advantage.  In any case, even though I am not quite from the Nintendo age I did enjoy an occasional Mario Brothers game in my time, and found these audio guides to be very useful and practical. Their built in GPS system meant they could determine your location in the museum and either guide you to the next exhibit, or pause to share information on your current location.  Jewelry Cabinet at the LouvreBrilliant in my estimation.  There are some exhibits I never grow weary of.  These include the Nike of Samothrace, which had undergone a recent restoration, the apartments of Napoleon, and of course the Mona Lisa.  What a wonderful end to our beautiful Paris visit.  Of course there is much more to see and do in Paris, but the students have a strong Nike of Samothrace at the Louvreintroduction to the sights and the rich history.  I remind them to start taking note of what they want to visit on their return trip to Paris….because a single visit cannot be enough! Our coach bus picked us up outside the Louvre and we were off to the train station to take the Eurostar to London.  As we pass Garnier’s Opera house one last time I bid a fond farewell to one of my favorite cities. Now on to the next adventure….much excitement still ahead for us!

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