Le Louvre

Recently a guy in Paris nearly got away with stealing several paintings from the Louvre. However, after planning the crime, getting in and out past security, he was captured only 2 blocks away when his Ford Econoline ran out of gas. When asked how he could mastermind such a daring and otherwise brilliant crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied: "I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh."

from http://members.aol.com/funchannel/crime.htm

Jokes apart, the Louvre requires no introduction. With its world-famous collection of œuvres - paintings, sculpture and objets d'art - ranging from preclassical to modern times, it is one of the largest museums of its kind. Situated in the heart of Paris on the right bank of the Seine, it was once inhabited by the kings of France (before Louis XIV decided to move to Versailles). Today it houses such celebrated works as da Vinci's La Gioconda (better known, perhaps, as Mona Lisa) and the Vénus de Milo.

One evening was all too short for us to explore this treasure-trove, but we had the advantage of having three different itineraries prepared for us by Sophie. We entered through the elegant glass pyramid (designed by I.M. Pei '40) which occupies the center of the palace courtyard, and each of us set off on his/her own path of exploration. We stayed till the museum closed at 10:00pm, and returned to our hotel, exhausted but enriched.