The Louvre is the most visited and widely known museum in Paris. Actually, it is the most visited museum in the world. In 2012 the Louvre received 9.7 million visitors. The Louvre is huge and houses an extremely famous painting: The Mona Lisa. The Louvre was a palace until 1682 when Louis XIV decided to move his court to Versailles. The palace opened it's doors as a museum in 1793 and housed only 537 paintings. Today, that number has increased drastically. Many people associate the Louvre with the glass pyramid, though not completely incorrect, the pyramid is an addition to the Louvre and the Louvre itself is the palace.
The Louvre is not just a museum and historical landmark, it is also a mini mall and a coffee shop. Inside there is a Starbucks (yes a Starbucks-they're everywhere in Paris...thank god) and many little specialty shops that you won't find any place else. The Louvre is huge and from personal experience, you could spend an entire day in there walking around looking at art that you may or may not recognize. The Louvre itself is a masterpiece and is spectacular.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Louvre_Museum_Wikimedia_Commons.jpg
The Louvre looks so cool! I would love to go see the Mona Lisa in person, I hope I can one day. It's also really interesting how old the museum is!
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