March 5, 2006 - page 3



On day two, we visited all the hot spots. First thing's first: The Louvre. This museum is beyond words, especially in terms of it's massiveness. The first striking feature is the entrance, I.M. Pei's glass pyramid. In true Louvre-first-timer fashion, Whitney Vowels, Sarah Samuel, Jay Carnes and I went straight for Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece, The Mona Lisa. My heart jumped, entering the room and seeing her looking

into my eyes from 30 feet away as I turned the corner. A thin plexiglass sheet away, I stared at her for several minutes and it was hard to move on to other paintings, grappled by her intriguing smile. I was in the Italian masters' hall, surrounded by Carrivagios, Titians, and Raphaels—even Giottos. It devastated me that photography was not allowed.