Last Friday Tom and I went to the Louvre to perhaps see the special Vermeer exposition. We waited for about twenty minutes in the security line, then another fifteen in the ticket line, only to find that the show was sold out for that day. It was suggested that if we got to the museum by 9:00 a.m., opening time, getting same-day tickets would not be a problem. Today we interrupted our vacation sleep (which normally lasts until about 8:45) and were on the very crowded Metro this morning at 8:30. We were at the Louvre Metro stop and through those security gates by 8:45. We then waited another 25 minutes to get through the security line which didn't open until 9:00 am. Then we waited for another 15 minutes in the ticket line, only to discover that there were no tickets until later today, at 2:00 p.m. We purchased those tickets and came back to our 'hood for coffee and a morning spent reading.
We set out, once again, for the Louvre at 1:15, were in line for those with tickets by 1:35 and then we waited. We waited until after 2:00. We waited some more. About 2:10 we were at the front of the line, and then we waited some more. In front of us, in another waiting area, there were about 100 people waiting with 2:00 p.m. tickets. We joined that group at 2:15 and the wait from there was going to be another 30 minutes, according to the signs. At that point we had already spent more than a total of 90 minutes (over two days) waiting and we had at least 30 more to go. At least. And then, to walk around the exhibit, to jostle and to be jostled, to try and walk around all the old people who had headphones and who never, ever move out of the way, to try and get close enough to read the notes on the wall about any particular painting, to keep breathing the hot, stale air..... well, we looked at each other in this stupid line and both said, almost at the same time, "This isn't worth it." So we left.
We will simply read the book instead of seeing the movie, to pen a metaphor.
I could go on and on why there isn't better crowd control at one of the world's biggest and best museums but there is no point to that. It was disappointing and frustrating and I was surprised that more people didn't bail out. I guess more people are OK with lining up like cattle and being herded into roped off lines, being taunted with the carrot of what they paid for as a reward for waiting patiently with hundreds of other cattle to see ..... something. All I know is that Tom and I were not OK with it, regardless what we paid for the privilege of being treated like cattle or sheep.
We metroed back to our neighborhood and stopped at a familiar cafe for a cafe creme (for Tom) and a cheap red wine (for me) and sat there for about a half hour. We ordered another round and suddenly the skies burst open, the temperature dropped ten degrees and the rain and wind outdid themselves to put on a show for us. Rain pelted down, the wind ripped the overhangs from their moorings, it was as dramatic as it could be and we were so, so happy to be sitting two feet away from the wind and the splash. It was as good as a museum exhibit could have been and with no crowds. C'était très dramatique.
That's been our day so far. Tomorrow is our last day to play in Paris and we will see what transpires.
A demain!
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