Surviving the Louvre

Anyone who has been there will attest the following:
1. Viewing the Mona Lisa is anti-climatic, you don't really care what is behind that smile, mostly because you won't get closer than 10 yards.
2. The enormous scale of the structure is overwhelming.
3. So what? If you haven't been studying ancient greece, egypt or the italian renaissance you will unlikely be compelled to stop at one painting for reflection.

What I can tell you having been there with a child in a stroller:
1. Tourists, not Parisians, are the true bane of of life in this city. They are rude, rude, rude.
2. The American Disabilities Act is a blessing, or you may find yourself walking backwards up several flights of marble staircases, and the tourists won't offer you a hand.
3. Rick Steves, though often a fantastic resource, becomes evermore annoying when he makes the following comment about the Venus de Milo in his guide book after you just dragged the stroller (and a very displeased child) up the stairs, "What were her arms doing? I say she was picking her navel."
4. A child who cannot yet walk CAN be a thief, so check what she is holding before you exit a bookstore in one of the most secure buildings in the world.
5. After a day of feeling overwhelmed by what you attempted, and underwhelmed by the art you experienced, the pyramid and the courtesy ride in an open-air elevator located in the exact center of the structure is a beautiful sight, and possibly the only thing you can take a picture of.

So, after all this what will I do now?
1. Study, study, study...and ask the all important question, "Why is this significant"
2. Break it down by wing and floor
3. Go at night (it is open until 9:45 on Wednesday and Fridays) and in the colder months to avoid the obnoxious tourists
4. Talk Nate into taking care of the baby when I go!