The Louvre - Day 2

Well, I'm getting pretty good at figuring out the subway routes here in Paris. Of course it helps that the system is well planned and sensible. The owner of the apartment we were renting for the week told us that you can get anywhere in Paris by subway with no more than 2 route changes, and we found that to be true in our experiences.

So, we jumped back on the subway following our tour of the Rodin Museum and Garden to make our way over to the Louvre for a second day in that great museum.

Cindy has had a long fascination with Egyptian history and artifacts, so we spent quite a bit of time walking through the Pharaoh's wing checking out sphinxes, sarcophagi and mummies galore.

After shaking the sand out of our shoes, we trekked over to the Mesopotamia wing. Or I should say we tried to get to the Mesopotamia wing. Even with a map, I was having difficulty navigating the vast expanse of the Louvre. The various wings, rooms and exhibits are not only spread out across the Louvre, they are also on different floors so you might find yourself going down one level, through an exhibit and then up another level to cross buildings and try to find the exhibit you are searching for...only to discover you should have gone down another level. So, as we walked through wings, rooms and exhibits with our feet growing more and more tired, Cindy declared we were "Lost in The Louvre".

I finally relented (men never stop and ask for directions, you know) and asked a blazer-jacketed Louvre attendant how to get to the Mesopotamia wing. Following her excellent directions we finally found the wing and then went about searching for this:

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the earliest (1795-1750 BC) codifications of law and regulation of human behavior, carved into an 8 foot tall piece of black basalt rock. It really is quite amazing to stand so close to this early documentation of not only Babylonian laws, but basic laws of mankind.

Obviously, I have taken many, many more photos than I can ever post here, so I typically pick the few that I think are the best and get across the story of our trip. Here are 3 from that afternoon in The Louvre that I really liked.

This is just one of the smaller halls within The Louvre.

Statues like this could easily keep me in The Louvre for a very long time, if only I had the time.

Next post: Night Boat Ride on the Seine