I will never forget being in the Louvre a few years ago in December. It was the dead of winter, the middle of the work week, and I bought the earliest ticket possible. So nothing like the summer/peak season crowds but it was still crowded. What surprised me was seeing all these people taking selfies with the Mona Lisa but not once looking at the art. It was the most bizarre thing. What's the point? Then they left the room never looking at the masterpiece across from the Mona Lisa. There are many great things about social media. It's impact on travel, is not one of them. I went to the Uffizi again last year. The first time was in 2006 as a tourist. Loved it. This last trip was unbearable. Impossible to see the art even though it was a weekday in February. Museums need to cut way back on ticketing like Galleria Borghese does. Also, tax the billionaires. They use the same infrastructure we do. We shouldn't be the only ones paying for it.
Visiting the Louvre was a nightmare even when I first went in the 1980s. I haven't been for ages, and don't even like being around it. But I feel like they could set up more entrances, and perhaps market tickets with different "parcours" to spread the visitors out and make the whole experience less exhausting and more enriching. The spontaneous strike this summer was a warning sign that things could fall apart.
Great post, and I am so with you on the eye-rolling of Cohen’s late discovery of greater Paris. I wrote a dozen or so pieces on that topic — datelined Pantin, where I live — for the NYT beginning in 2013 and interviewed the people he did more than a decade ago! https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/opinion/sunday/the-other-paris-beyond-the-boulevards.html And a long piece for the NYRB back in 2018. https://www.nybooks.com/online/2018/04/27/a-grand-redesign-for-paris/
Grrr.
Oh jeez it’s even worse than I thought, then! 😅
I will never forget being in the Louvre a few years ago in December. It was the dead of winter, the middle of the work week, and I bought the earliest ticket possible. So nothing like the summer/peak season crowds but it was still crowded. What surprised me was seeing all these people taking selfies with the Mona Lisa but not once looking at the art. It was the most bizarre thing. What's the point? Then they left the room never looking at the masterpiece across from the Mona Lisa. There are many great things about social media. It's impact on travel, is not one of them. I went to the Uffizi again last year. The first time was in 2006 as a tourist. Loved it. This last trip was unbearable. Impossible to see the art even though it was a weekday in February. Museums need to cut way back on ticketing like Galleria Borghese does. Also, tax the billionaires. They use the same infrastructure we do. We shouldn't be the only ones paying for it.
Thank you for a nourishing start to my day.
also
An 82-year-old Parisian widow over lunch is the perfect title for a book!
Ha !!! A French gathering of any kind is perfect writer fodder, honestly
I needed that summary on the political dramaz. Thank you! Now diving into your Robb Report piece. Merci!!
Visiting the Louvre was a nightmare even when I first went in the 1980s. I haven't been for ages, and don't even like being around it. But I feel like they could set up more entrances, and perhaps market tickets with different "parcours" to spread the visitors out and make the whole experience less exhausting and more enriching. The spontaneous strike this summer was a warning sign that things could fall apart.
Thank you for this summary on French politics. It’s hard to get a sense of what’s going on from this side of the Atlantic.
I try! 🙏Thank you for reading!