Back in 2018, when I visited world famous museum Luvre in Paris; I was quite excited about seeing 'The Monalisa' portrait. This museum had a lot to offer than just Monalisa portrait. It literally took me 4-5 hours to explore all sections of it covering hundreds of paintings. I had never seen such a massive museum before in my life.
Good thing was I had kept 3 days to explore Paris and I knew this before reaching Paris that I am going to need a dedicated day just for the Louvre! For any art lover (like me) this museum has one of the best collections of paintings. Having said that, it can be tiring to walk around the museum and appreciate all the masterpieces hanging around the walls.
It took me a while before I reached the section which had Monalisa portrait along with few other paintings. First of all, I knew there would be a crowd near the painting; however, I didn't imagine that it would be that big of a crowd! Just look at this view below;
Firstly, I just stood there for few minutes just to understand how the people are approaching towards the painting. I realise that I could see the painting from where I stood but obviously you want to get closer and click a selfie, isn't it?! Everyone around me was dying to get a picture standing next to the painting. I was carrying a DSLR that time. By the way, usually I carry a tripod stand to get a proper picture but Tripods aren't allowed inside Museum Louvre. Hence, I had to keep it in one of the lockers in the basement.
While walking closer to the painting, I was thinking how am I going to take a selfie using my DSLR? Looking at the crowd around me, I was sure that nobody going to give a damn about taking a picture for me. I realised that I had to put my camera back to my bag and just get a pic on my phone. When I reached right next to the Monalisa portrait, it was so busy and people were rushing around me. People were pushing each other around and definitely wasn't a good sight. While in that moment, I somehow took couple of clicks with the painting and got dragged by the crowd away.
Soon, I realised that I didn't even get a peaceful second to stand and just admire the painting. I had that realisation while getting away from the painting and was really disappointed. The whole scene made me so frustrated that nowadays people don't even understand how to appreciate an art! I really wanted to spend sometime standing in front of the painting and observe it in great detail but that left as a piped dream even after visiting!
Let me know if you had a similar experience seeing the portrait of Monalisa and if you are yet to witness it then visit the museum strategically (visit at a time with less crowd; maybe closer to opening or closing time of the museum).
Happy travelling!
Comments