Travel: Mona Lisa

Seeing the Mona Lisa is such a great experience. Visiting the Louvre is awesome, although I like the Musée d’Orsay better – I’m a painting person.

First, expect to wait – and then wait – and then wait some more. All in all, we waited 45 minutes to see her (and only for 3 minutes, I might add). Seems silly, right? Well, if you like people, or like people watching rather, than this is a lot of fun.

Seeing the Mona Lisa

This is line one – in the atrium and on sunny days they give you umbrellas since the sun coming down through the glass pyramids is pretty warm.

Line two is all about moving through a narrow hallway and up 4 escalators. You don’t want to have to pee while you’re in this line – be sure you do all of that before you step in line.

Line three is in the room next to where the Mona Lisa is stored. Full of so many vast and religious paintings. I could hardly take them in with all the people around us. Distractions galore!

Oh, and I should mention it’s around this point where people get pushy. The man behind Bryce kept bumping into him with his belly. I maneuvered myself over and put my purse between me and the man. Bryce, being such a gentleman, caught on in a flash and swapped me back.

Line four, the last one! This is the best line, not only because you’re so close, but also because you get to scout your actions. Get your phone ready, and watch all the people looking at cellphones and smiling for cameras rather than looking at Leonardo da Vinci’s beautiful work.

It’s worth it, the whole experience, really.

Ready? Set? Go!

We took a couple of quick photos and then just stared at it. It’s beautiful, underwhelming, and weirdly ugly at the same time.

Overall, these two smiling faces are happy!

Thanks so much for visiting. Safe travels and don’t be afraid to jump on the bandwagon every so often – it’s fun.