Our next adventure was one I had been looking forward to for years—the Louvre.
The day didn’t exactly start smoothly. We had arranged for a taxi, but instead of pulling up where we were waiting, the driver parked somewhere else and expected us to find him. With a 9:00 a.m. timed entry reservation, every minute mattered, and we were beginning to think we were going to miss it.
Fortunately, we arrived just in time. Once the staff saw Kiya’s transport chair, they graciously moved us to the front of the entry line, and within minutes we were inside the world’s largest art museum.
I had one goal to start the day—head straight to the Mona Lisa before the museum filled with visitors.
The Louvre is enormous, and it took a bit of navigating through elevators and long hallways before we finally reached her gallery. At first, we joined the regular line and slowly made our way toward the viewing area. Then Mom noticed a small sign indicating accessible access for wheelchair users.
As we made our way toward it, one of the attendants came over to meet us.
She smiled and led us around the crowds to the accessible viewing area, where we were able to stand only about five feet from Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Behind us, the general crowd was held back roughly fifteen feet from the painting.
The attendant told us to take all the time we wanted.
She even offered to take our family photos, making sure we had pictures together in front of one of the most famous paintings in the world. It was such a thoughtful act of kindness, and it transformed what could have been a stressful experience into one of the highlights of our trip.
After spending time with the Mona Lisa, we wandered through gallery after gallery for the next several hours.
The Louvre is almost overwhelming in both its size and its collection. We searched for masterpieces by Michelangelo, admired works by Rodin, found paintings by Van Gogh, and eventually made our way to one of the museum’s most famous sculptures—the Venus de Milo.
Finding her turned into a bit of an adventure.
Several elevators had been shut down because of the extreme heat, so we found ourselves taking detours through different wings of the museum before finally arriving at the gallery. Like so much of the Louvre, the journey itself introduced us to countless unexpected works of art along the way.
The heat became such a concern that the Louvre announced it would close early at 4:00 p.m. to help protect both visitors and staff. We ended up being among the very last visitors to leave the museum that afternoon.
Before heading home, we wandered through the shops surrounding the Louvre and treated ourselves to refreshing sorbet—a perfect way to cool down after hours of walking through galleries.
Then another unexpected adventure began.
Rather than taking the underground passage, we tried to exit through one of the shopping areas, only to discover that the elevators we needed were no longer operating. We were told to return to the Louvre and use its elevators instead.
The security guards weren’t entirely convinced that was allowed.
After several conversations, they checked with the Louvre staff, who graciously welcomed us back inside.
Walking back into the museum after it had closed was one of the most surreal moments of our entire trip.
The galleries were silent.
The crowds were gone.
We rode the elevators back up beneath the famous glass pyramid, and for the first time all day there was no one around. Looking up through the pyramid without hundreds of tourists filling the space was something very few visitors ever experience. I was able to take some incredible photographs of the pyramid completely unobstructed—pictures that would have been impossible just an hour earlier.
Outside, we noticed quite a few disappointed visitors arriving for afternoon entry, unaware that the museum had already closed because of the extreme temperatures.
From there we began the long walk back toward our apartment, making our way via the Eiffel Tower. Along the way we found a restaurant just a short walk from its base and enjoyed dinner while admiring one of the world’s most recognizable landmarks. We took plenty of photographs, knowing that the following day the tower and surrounding area would be closed for Bastille Day celebrations and the evening fireworks.
We decided we needed to eat a meal out and treat ourselves. There was a restaurant on the corner by our apartment. We walked in the door and almost walked right back out. All the wait staff was dress in fancy black suits and dresses. The place had mirrors and lighting everywhere. Everyone else is dressed in very nice dinner clothes. We stumble in hot sweaty and in our street clothes. They were so gracious and served us like we were in formal wear. We had an amazing meal and had a berry pavlova for desert. After dinner we continued our walk back to the apartment.
Unfortunately, our apartment remained the biggest disappointment of our stay in Paris. It stayed unbearably hot no matter what we tried, making it difficult to relax after long days of sightseeing. We found ourselves spending as little time there as possible, treating it simply as a place to sleep before heading back out to explore another corner of this remarkable city.
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