So what's the big deal?

Yesterday, I went to the museum of all museums. My mother and I had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the world-famous home to masterpieces such as Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace. Or as the other hundred thousand people that were in the museum would say it… “I saw the Mona Lisa!”

Now, I love museums. I try to visit some sort of museum whenever I get the chance. These people – or shall I say animals, who shelled out their 9€ to catch a glimpse of the (for some reason) infamous Mona Lisa, need to get a lesson in how to behave in a crowded public place. Never in my life did I think that in a museum, I would get shoved out of the way to see a painting that people aren’t even taking to time to look at. They just throw their cameras in the air, point and shoot without even giving the work of art the few seconds it deserves to be observed up close and personally. To them I ask…What’s the point of taking a picture of something that you’ve already seen in pictures a thousand times?

So I saw it. It was nice. But on the wall opposite DaVinci’s most well known painting, was an enormous tableau of The Wedding Feast at Cana by Veronese which took my breath away. What amazed me even more, was how few people even looked in its direction. What I want to know is, what’s the big deal? Who made the Mona Lisa the thing to see if you’re in France? After having seen it with my own two eyes, all I could come up with is… she’s got a great publicist. Yeah there’s something behind her mysterious smile, but who wouldn’t be smiling if tourists came from all corners of the world to see you? Don’t get me wrong, DaVinci was an extremely talented artist and I just think that his other works of art deserve as much credit as La Joconde. It’s just that other than the room that houses the now famous painting, museum-goers didn’t seem to have much interest in anything else.

If you have the opportunity to visit the Louvre, fight your way through the crowd to see the Mona Lisa and decide for yourself. Is it all it’s cracked up to be? After spending 5 hours in the museum, my mother and I had seen a small percent of the art that is showcased there. But I did manage to be blown away by some of the sculptures and paintings that we came across.

Here are my top 3 things to see in the Louvre *with reasons why they are better than the Mona Lisa.

THE RUBENS ROOM

1) There are benches for taking well needed rests here.

2) Because in 1622, Queen Mary (widow of Henry IV and mother of Louis XIII) commissioned Rubens to create 24 canvases to decorate the Palace of Luxemburg. The paintings illustrate the history of heroism within her family. Each and every one of them is awesome.

VENUS DI MILO

Because she’s fierce… even though she’s missing both arms. Much less of a crowd here, and the ancient sculpture is magnificent.

LE PAVILLION DES SESSIONS

This part of the museum was virtually empty. With every turn I was amazed with the creations of artists from various parts of the globe. The Tribal and aboriginal art was astounding. With an emphasis on animals and mythology, their statues (made up of wood and different metals) were really a breath of fresh air after looking at so much marble in the ancient Greek and Roman divisions.

In all, visiting the Louvre was an amazing way to spend the day. I’m so glad I got to experience it, even though some people in certain rooms made it a tad unpleasant. But it’s the Louvre! Luckily there were 700 other rooms to visit. Now I can finally say “I saw the Mona Lisa!” – but really, what’s the big deal?