Part two of our visit to the Louvre. It's kinda surreal seeing some of these pieces of art that up until then, you've only seen in textbooks and internet pics.

Fortunately, just because I've seen them before many times in images doesn't mean they appear less impressive in person.

Kitties! Ok, really though, one thing we never heard about was the Louvre's expansive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Unfortunately, save for mummies, the rest of Egyptian culture never really caught Michelle and I's interest, so we felt it more annoying than anything when we had to go through the huge halls several times trying to find a way out (they were constructing on part of the building which would have otherwise provided a looped route. Also, the exhibited top floor does NOT connect to the rest of the floors as we were misled to believe).

Michelle is trying to stay interested, but all of this extra-ancient stuff is beyond our tastes.

Well, except for mummies of course. Because who doesn't love checking out dead corpses, right?

Ok, last pic of the glass pyramid. Really is a slick way of combining the older monumental buildings with a modern layout.

Another thing we never heard of was this calming sculpture garden. Didn't really get a chance to check them out, but it seemed to be a serene location for folks to have a lunch break or students to sketch.

The huge skylight helped set the calming mood.

A view of the Parisian rooftops never gets old.

There was an attached shopping center to the Louvre with this inverted pyramid as a center piece. During the evening and low-light times, it looked jewel-like coming down from the ceiling. Just another thing that I wished I had gone back to at night to check out.

Even when spaces were empty, it still looked amazing.

Next we'll go explore more beyond the Louvre and its obnoxious souvenir vendors. (Seriously, if they were this bad during the off-season, I'd hate to be around during Summer. I feel sorry for any family/timid tourist who doesn't shout them off).