Dreaming of France: Guarding the Louvre
When we entered the grounds of the Louvre, this gentleman, s tanding as still as the statues within its walls, gave us our first glimpse of not only the dizzying financial value of the treasures housed within its walls, but the importance of the Louvre as France's most beloved cultural institution. Home to some of the most famous and valuable works of art in the entire world —the Mona Lisa alone was last valued in 1962 at $100 million, and is presumably worth many times that now— and the museum, as the most visited tourist site in Paris, is worth much more than that. Over 8 million people visit the Louvre every year and when we were there this past spring, I have to admit it felt as though most of them had come to see the Mona Lisa that same morning. For anyone who wanted to linger and really look at DaVinci's masterpiece—like moi—it was a frustrating experience. Liberty Leading the People / Eugene Delacroix Still, there is so much to see at the L...