For my 8 year old daughter, the most anticipated activity on our recent trip to Paris was a visit to Musée du Louvre to see the Mona Lisa.
For my 8 year old daughter, Emma, one of the most anticipated activities on our recent trip to Paris was the visit to Musée du Louvre. In the weeks leading up to our trip, many people asked Emma what she was going to do in Paris and her first answer was invariably the same – see the Mona Lisa.
Emma had done some reading prior to our trip, starting with Monday with a Mad Genius from the Magic Tree House series where she had learned about Leonardo da Vinci, his life in Florence and his most famous painting.
We also read art books for kids like 13 Artists Children Should Know and Louvre Up Close and Leonardo da Vinci and the Mona Lisa figured prominently in each. We learned about her mysterious smile and the fact that the painting now hangs behind bulletproof glass at Musée du Louvre.
We reviewed the cards in the Usborne series Famous Paintings and learned that the painting, which had taken da Vinci three years to paint, had been stolen from the musée in 1911 by a man disguised as a workman. This only added to the intrigue of the masterpiece.
I cautioned Emma that the painting was smaller than she might imagine it to be because I didn’t want her to be disappointed when she actually saw it but she assured me that she knew it was small and that she didn’t care. In her words: “If I’m going to Paris, I’m going to see the Mona Lisa!”
Emma wanted to head to the Louvre as soon as we arrived in Paris, however, we convinced her that it was better to wait a couple of days. She was ready and she was impatient to see one of the world’s most famous paintings on the morning of our third day in the city. We decided to walk to the musée with stops along the way at the Cathedrals of Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle.
It was getting close to midday when we finally arrived at Musée du Louvre and Emma was very excited to see the building.
Arriving at The Louvre
But not too excited to stop and pose for photos in the courtyard.
Stopping to pose outside The Louvre
Once we were inside the building, we decided that we might as well head directly to the Mona Lisa since Emma wasn’t going to be satisfied until she had seen the painting. We had to hurry to catch up to her as she sped down the hallways in the direction we had pointed.
Emma at The Louvre
Soon we were in the same room as Mona Lisa and Emma could hardly contain her excitement.
In the same room as The Mona Lisa
We had to wiggle through a large crowd of people in order to get close enough for an unobstructed view and to take some photos.
Excited to see The Mona Lisa
And there she was – Mona Lisa – the most famous painting in the world.
The Mona Lisa
Fortunately the experience lived up to the hype and Emma couldn’t wait to tell everyone at home that she had been face-to-face with Mona Lisa.
Cathy Sweeney
Although many people do feel disappointed when they see the Mona Lisa, I went there with a positive attitude, just like Emma. It may be a little smaller than I envisioned, but it’s still the Mona Lisa!
Becca@RWTYM?
What a sweet sweet story! I LOVE her excitement!!!! Thanks for linking up this week! Have a fantastic weekend!!
Jessica
What a sweet story! I am so glad she was so excited!
Camels & Chocolate
Emma’s poses KILL me. What a cutie! And you can tell how excited she is to finally see the paining. Love it.
Lisa Goodmurphy
Turns out it was bigger than she expected because all of my warnings had her thinking that it wasn’t much bigger than a piece of paper! 🙂
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thanks! She was so excited – it was fun to just watch her!!
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thanks, Becca! She was bouncing with excitement!
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thanks, Jessica! She was definitely excited – in fact, Katie kept telling her to just calm down already!!
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thanks!! She was so excited to see the painting that she didn’t want to leave the room. We worked our way through the crowd twice for her to get a front row view. 🙂
Steve
I was so worried as I was going through this story that Emma was going to be disappointed with the Mona Lisa. I’m so glad she wasn’t.
I don’t know if I’d want to be around the day Emma’s excitement level is high enough that she doesn’t want to stop for pictures. I can’t even fathom that one.
Lisa Goodmurphy
No hint of disappointment – I think it actually exceeded expectations!
InACents
How exciting for Emma! No Da Vinci Code moments at the Louvre?
Lisa Goodmurphy
No, neither of them are familiar with The Da Vinci Code. I read it years ago when it was all the rage and didn’t really find it that memorable, to tell the truth. Katie was very excited about the Musée d’Orsay though because apparently there’s a Dr. Who episode that takes place there.
Lisa Wood
How gorgeous that she read up about Mona Lisa, and then the painting lived up to her excitement 🙂
How lucky you are that she likes the having her photo taken!
Filip Demuinck
Very good pictures of your Louvre visit, your daugther shines.
Greetings,
Filip
Average Traveller
It looks like you guys had fun. It looks like wasn’t too crowded at the Louvre, which is always nice.
Mary @ The World Is A Book
I love how you documented her first trip to see the Mona Lisa. It’s great that she got to see it and it didn’t disappoint. The Mona Lisa and the Eiffel Tower were what my kids anticipated the most during the Paris visit. How did teen Katie feel about this visit? =)
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thank you, Filip!!
Lisa Goodmurphy
We were fortunate in that it wasn’t too crowded the day that we visited and it seemed that everyone who was there was crowded around the Mona Lisa. Once we moved away from that part of the museum we were practically by ourselves.
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thanks, Lisa! I was relieved that she wasn’t disappointed!
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thanks, Mary! I think Katie was excited as well but she’s too cool to show it. She took lots of photos of the room and Emma and the Mona Lisa with her zoom lens. She refused to push her way to the front for a better view though, insisting that she could see just fine from where she was.
Albert
Cool! Are you in Paris!? I love that city!| to be honest I should reveal that I’ve been in Paris only once and didn’t pop into Louvre Museum! The queue was that long that my friind and I gave up after an hour queueing! I’ve been blamed for having missed it out! And I actually regret not to visit it!
Lisa Goodmurphy
We were in Paris last month for our spring break. It was the first time in Paris for my kids and it was wonderful! You definitely have to go back to Paris and visit the Louvre – it’s worth the long queue! 🙂
Ann
So sweet! It looks like you picked a good time to go since it didn’t seem too-too crowded. It’s great that she knew what she wanted out of the trip!
Misty
This is fantastic!…and a sure sign that you did an EXCELLENT job preparing her for the visit. I love the look of excitement on Emma’s face. Priceless 🙂
Lisa Goodmurphy
Ann, I think it helped that we were in Paris in mid-March – not quite as busy as summer time!
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thank you, Misty – it was a very exciting moment for her!