The third day in Paris is the most structured of the trip. We had tickets booked for The Louvre, where there is a set timeslot for us to enter. Since it was Christmas Eve, we wanted to experience Christmas mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. We planned to attend the earlier mass thinking we could get in earlier and avoid the crowds of the next session, which would be on national TV. So we had set a time to be at 2 attractions for the third day.

The Louvre

After reading and watching Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, how could I not go and visit the Louvre. Mona Lisa is already famous all over the world. As it happened, in the weeks before we went, there was a heist in the Louvre where some crown jewels were stolen.

Firstly, we are very impressed with the size of The Louvre. The building and architecture are magnificent, I would think this is probably the largest museum in the world! We went through the pyramid entrance, where there was a queue based on the time slot. The queue was long mainly because of the bag check, but the queue moved pretty fast.

As we entered the underground concourse, we wanted to turn right where Mona Lisa was, but it was crowded. The staff asked us to go to the left instead and we ended up in the part of the museum that is furthest from Mona Lisa. This forced us to take a longer route and see more things as we headed to see Mona Lisa.

Lesser Known Exhibits

There are other lesser known exhibits in The Louvre and they are featured in the free brochure that we got when we entered. We walked past the Napoleon Apartments, which served as state reception rooms and offices for his government. The apartments are lavishly decorated and we could see the functions of each room.

As we walked around, we stumbled upon the Nike of Samothrace. The sculpture looks familiar and it was placed at the end of the grand staircase, providing a great photo opportunity.

We also saw the famous painting, Liberty Leading the People, that was the inspiration for Les Misérables. There were signs for Venus de Milo which we followed and saw.

Mona Lisa

The whole reason people go to The Louvre is to see Mona Lisa. Other than the painting, it is well known that the crowd can be crazy. The Louvre tried their best to have some semblance of crowd control. We joined the crowd of people from the back and moved forward towards the painting. There were signs everywhere to tell us where to go. As we reached the front, we were asked to take our picture and move on to the side, to get out of the queue. There was not much chance to take a good picture or to admire the painting. It’s definitely a checklist item, take a picture and then move on.

What people normally miss is the painting in front of Mona Lisa. The painting is called “Wedding Feast of Cana”, the largest painting in The Louvre. It depicts the biblical story of the Wedding at Cana, at which Jesus miraculously converts water into wine.

Definitely book your tickets at The Louvre ahead. If I recall correctly, tickets sell out as soon as they are available online. You can only get tickets 3 months in advance. When we were there, tickets were not available for purchase on site, so only pre-purchased ticket holders are allowed in.

Christmas Service at Notre Dame Cathedral

Since we were in Paris for Christmas, we wanted to make the trip special. We aimed to attend mass in the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral. It was closed for 5 years for restoration after the fire. One thing we noticed is how bright and new the cathedral looked. It felt like they did a very good job cleaning up the inside of the cathedral. The brightness makes the cathedral feel larger and brings out the architectural details.

Entrance to Notre Dame is free. People just walk around the Cathedral, looking at the chapels dedicated to various saints. We were one and a half hours early and managed to get seats — it was a long wait though. It was a Catholic service, in French, of course. We tried to follow as much as we could. It was more for the experience rather than the spiritual value.

When we left the cathedral after service, it was already getting dark. The cathedral bathed in the orange sunset was beautiful.