26 January 2009, Monday—Monday was the start of my planned four day museum extravaganza. It was a short walk to the Louvre and I arrived shortly before it opened at 9am. A short line had formed that moved quickly through security at the pyramid entrance. After purchasing the Museum Pass at an office down the hall from the main lobby, I started my visit. Without being there it's difficult to imagine the size of the museum and the extent of the works on display. While I planned to concentrate on post 1500 paintings, I wanted to get a feel for the entire collection so I kept a steady pace walking through much of the Richeleu wing and parts of the other two wings. I continued my overview after a quick lunch of tuna sandwich, chips and orange juice (€10,10).
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| Artist copying painting in Louvre | Another artist copying painting in Louvre |
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| Centre Pompidou | View from Centre Pompidou | View toward Sacre Couer |
Knowing I would return later in the week, I finished my tour by mid-afternoon and decided to tour the Centre Pompidou which along with the Louvre is one of the few museums open on Monday. I was getting a little overwhelmed by the mass of images and by late afternoon was ready for a break.
Dinner was at a nearby French restaurant, L' Assiette Aveyronnaise, recommended by Didier who works at the front desk of the hotel. I knew that 6pm was early for most Parisiennes to be eating dinner, but I was surprised that there was no one in the place. I had seen many diners when I walked by at around 8:30pm the night before so I knew it was a popular place. I had a very good salmon dish with salad and bread and a couple of glasses of white wine. As I ate, the 4 person staff set a table nearby and had their pasta dinner uninterrupted by any other customers.