The pandemic seems to be excellent at ruining all possible vacation plans. Today, I was particularly missing the thrill and excitement of travelling and as a result, found myself walking down memory lane. So, I remembered my trip to Paris and the Louvre museum and I couldn’t help but think about my experience there.
It was the chilly autumn of 2019 when my family and I made the visit to France and Belgium. When in Paris, visiting the Louvre is a must and so, visit the Louvre we did!
The pyramid-shaped museum would take at least a week to explore entirely and while giving it the credit it is due, however, we had just an evening to achieve this monumental task. So, like most tourists, we moved to visit only the highlights and then the souvenir store to make sure it is known that we were in Paris.
Not unexpectedly, there is only one thing that all tourists were dying to see- the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is an overly-hyped-up portrait painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Chances are that even a painting and art-based amateur would be familiar with the Mona Lisa. The excitement and anticipation built up as we feverishly made our way toward the famous painting. We made it to the room housing the golden portrait, however, for a minute, we thought we had the wrong room (despite the crowd). Why did we think that? Well, the reason was that we couldn’t see the painting anywhere despite the clamouring tourists.
Everyone seems to have built-in their heads the notion that the Mona Lisa was a massive painting. It comes as an unexpected and underwhelming surprise to note that it is quite small. In fact, it is so small that it is hard to see even when you’re right in front of it. It is merely a painting you experience for a few fleeting moments before being asked to move on.
And that is the underwhelming and slightly disappointing truth about the Mona Lisa. Despite this, if you ever find yourself in Paris, don’t hold yourself back from going to the Louvre as it is still a truly magical experience!
