Before that, though, we decided that we felt like eating KFC for breakfast and Starbucks for our coffee, since the last time we had Starbucks was back in Hamburg, about 2 weeks ago. We were dying to have some by now. I did some research on the whereabouts of those two franchises. I found a location where they are within close proximity with each other, while being not far away from Louvre.
So we took the metro from Cambronne towards Montparnasse, made a transfer, then we headed toward Forum des Halles, about 1km east of Louvre. Our metro exit: Les Halles. When we got out, we ended up in a building, which was Forum des Halles itself. Surprisingly, that was where we found the Starbucks. I wasn't so sure if it was the same Starbucks I had found online earlier, but this was a welcomed serendipity. After we got our macchiato and mocha, and after we got our directions, we continued our journey to find the KFC.
We finally got out of Forum des Halles and into the rain. Yup! It began to rain, and we were without an umbrella. Moreover, we did our hair, so we were bummed that it may get wet. But determined, we marched on towards those yummy, crunchy chickens that awaited us. And after a walk straight down a street and a turn onto another, we were greeted with the Colonel.
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We ordered our meals and ate outside under the awning while watching the rain. While we ate, we saw a shop across the street that sold souvenirs and umbrellas. Given the rain that still drop consistently, we made note to stop by the shop for both souvenirs and an umbrella. And so we did.
Afterwards, armed with our new, fragile umbrella with "Paris" prints, we took our walk towards Louvre. We managed to brave ourselves through rain and wind, which happened to manage to uplift our umbrella twice, thus breaking one of the stretchers. Nonetheless, we made it to our destination: Louvre.
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We quickly went to the entrance and into the labyrinth of the Louvre below. We bought our tickets and entered the museum. Our first work of art to see, the Mona Lisa.
The route to the Mona Lisa was not direct and immediate. First, we had to walk through the Etruscan and Roman Antiquities.
We came to a flight of stairs that lead to an angel-like statue that had no head attached to it. Despite that, it was a great work of art. The statue is the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
Going up to the floor above, we begun with the Italian paintings. The first room had paintings related to the Catholic religion.
Finally we made it to a room, where in the center, surrounded by tourists with their cameras, the infamous and invaluable painting of the great artist, Leonardo Da Vinci, hung behind a protected glass case.
For me, this was the crown of the visit in Paris. I have visited this city before, even the Louvre. But I managed to miss seeing the Mona Lisa painting. Finally being able to see it was a dream come true, much like how I felt with being in Prague and Venice, and seeing the Coliseum in Rome.
We went through some more rooms with magnificent paintings hanging on the walls. Even the ceilings were painted beautifully.
There was an enormous painting in a room with red walls. This painting illustrated the coronation of the king and queen of France, surrounded by religious and political figures.
Finally, we made it out of the paintings, and we came across another infamous work of art, the statue of Venus.
The next section that we explored contained what used to be the original Medieval Louvre, before the museum buildings were built. Below are pictures of the before and after of this Medieval Louvre.
And we were right there where the remains of the walls of this building.
After the Medieval Louvre, we got to the Egyptian exhibition. There were a lot of items in this section, as it was in other exhibitions. Here are pictures of some artifacts in the Egyptian exhibition.
We made it as far as the tombs and mummies of Egypt.
After taking some more pictures of more arts and sculptures, we started to head towards the exits.
Outside, the sun came out, but only for a little bit. The rain was still coming very lightly, but only to pick up again. We took a picture of an arch in front of the Louvre.
And lucky us, the rainbow was there too.
At the beginning of the day, we wanted to climb the Eiffel tower. But at this time, with the high wind, cold temperature, and increasing rain, we decided not to head to the Eiffel tower, saving that activity for another time. It was another reason to come back.
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