American in Paris- A Photographic Journal: Bethany: Day Three

So, day three of me and Bethany romping around the city was supposed to be completely filled by the Louvre. Unfortunately, we both overslept a bit, not waking up until almost 10:30. Then, as we were getting ready, Bethany came to the sudden realization that she had lost her museum pass. We ripped through all of her stuff in search of the credit card sized pass, but to no avail. Finally, we decided to go to the Louvre, pay for a ticket, and come back and search again in the evening.

We got to the museum, and went to go get into the line for the main entrance. It was snaking through the courtyard, and looked like it would take at least 2 hours. So, instead, we ducked into the Carrousel to see if the lines were shorter. They were. Much shorter. In 15 minutes, we were in line for tickets, already through the security check. The ticket lines moved pretty quickly, too, and in another 30 minutes we were on our way into Pavillion Sully, home of the Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian collections, as well as French and Italian painters, including The Mona Lisa.

Antinoüs Mondragone, a piece in the first Sully room.

Bethany wanted to see Mona again, so we searched her out, stopping along the way, and while she fought her way forward for a good picture, I sat on a bench in the corner. Afterwards, we perused the French painters collection, including a wing I hadn't seen before.

Louis David's Le Serment des Horaces.

We wandered through the Art Objects and Ancient Egyptian collections. Bethany seemed somewhat interested in the art, but I was far more interested in the architecture, as usual.

One of the grand halls of the Art Objects collection.

Through our wandering, we had moved into Pavillion Denon, so we went through the Medieval Louvre excavation and the history sections quickly before heading out for a break. We were both starting to get hot and we were sleepy, so we decided Starbucks iced coffees would be in order.

Bethy, waiting for our coffee to get done.

My Java Chip Frap, with my French name on it.

After we were refreshed, we went back in for Pavillion Richelieu, which is my favorite of the three. It houses the sculpture collection and the apartments of Napoleon III.

We headed up to try and get some pictures from the courtyard through the windows at the top of the hall, but realized the patio was open, so we went outside for some fresh air and photos.

Bethany, at the Louvre.

Me, loading up new film into my camera.
Photo credit: Bethany Schmidt

Afterwards, we checked out the apartments, then decided we had had our fill. We decided to grab the metro up to the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up some souvenirs for Bethy's brother and his girlfriend. I've also been craving Chipotle like crazy lately. I've even been dreaming about it. I knew the Paris Chipotle had just opened up, but we didn't know where it was, so I was going to wait until after Bethy left to go searching for it. Thankfully, it's just down the street from the Hard Rock, so we stopped by after for dinner.