I couldn’t have an Advent Calendar dedicated to all my favorite things in Paris and leave out the Musée du Louvre, bien sûr. The famous museum known around the world is often skipped by tourists or they run into see a few of the most famous items, check off their list and onto the next thing. However, there is so much more to the Louvre than the Mona Lisa.
The Louvre itself began as a palace to the kings of France in the Middle Ages. Over time from each king changed it just a bit adding their own take until Francois I revamped the entire idea of the monarchy and the palace itself. Removing much of the medieval structure the Louvre that we know today began to take shape. Mostly left to his son Henri II to carry out, today you can admire the Salle des Caryatides on the ground floor of the Sully wing beautifully created by Jean Goujon and Pierre Lescot. Catherine de Medicis later added her touch with the Petite Galerie and the Palais des Tuileries and Henri IV would build the vast Grande Galerie connecting the two. Louis XIV famously started and left leaving the Louvre open to the rain of Paris and finally completed by the two Napoleon emperors.
Spending countless hours within the walls of the Louvre and studding everything I can get my hands on I can’t wait to share it all with you. Starting in January I will begin to give some live chats sharing all the history of those sacred walls.Are you interested in learning more about the Louvre, well beyond the Mona Lisa? Let me know in the comments.
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