(Photo: Pixabay)
When speaking about the Louvre, it is considered bad manners to mention that only 5,000 of the 380,000 works in its collection were created by French artists.
The three works visitors to the Louvre are most willing to wait in line for are the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Mont-Blanc pastry served at the Café Richelieu Angelina, on the museum’s first floor.
Most art critics agree that the giant glass pyramid standing at the main entrance to the Louvre was not built by ancient Egyptians.
The Louvre has two information desks, where attendants will happily direct you to the on-site Starbucks.
No one thinks of the Louvre as being in a particularly rough part of town, but it is true that since 1911, the Mona Lisa, which is displayed behind bulletproof glass, has been stolen once and vandalized five times, including by a man who smeared it with a cream cake.
When asking a Paris taxi driver for a ride to the Louvre, make it clear before they turn on the meter that you do not mean the branch that’s in Abu Dhabi, on the Arabian Peninsula.
Be suspicious of anyone standing outside the Louvre who attempts to sell you a painting of the Mona Lisa in the nude, as it is probably of Kim Kardashian.
BobCarriesOn Humor Editor Bob Payne knew his painting of the Mona Lisa was a fake when he discovered that it was signed by Kanye West. Payne is the author of the 142-country travel memoir Escape Clauses – Getting Away With a Travel Writing Life
