You often wonder about major attractions such as the Louvre, which is considered by many to be one of the finest museums of the world, comprehensively written about in all the guide books and their own excellent web site http://www.louvre.fr/ what you can say that will add to the pleasure of the visitor.
Here, I will make a confession.  I like old things generally, I find them interesting but for me it took three attempts to pluck up the courage to endure the crowds that surrounded the square and plunged into the bowels of the pyramid, the main entrance to the museum.  It attracts like flies and rightly so, in my opinion, this stunning piece of contemporary art in the middle of this ancient square reflecting the views around.  They were very brave in their decision and in the UK would, no doubt, incurred the wrath of Prince Charles.  In France it is different.

The point of the paragraph above is that instead of entering by the main entrance of the pyramid and enduring the long line of people waiting to get their baggage checked at the top then the even longer lines at the ticket offices come in another entrance.  Entering by entrance at the side of the museum on the Rue de Rivoli you will find a ticket machine that on the day we went was unused and a very sort queue of people waiting to have their bags checked.

Once underground, whichever way you get there it is worth having a look round at the massive excavation that when on to build the underground complex before tiring yourself out on the miles of corridors that make up the display areas.  You will see a model that shows the massive underground works that includes underground parking, shopping and theatres a testament to modern engineering.  Then you can be truly amazed by the scale of the ancient fort and subsequent palace built on the site.

A small word of warning the apart from the sheer scale of the building as you wander around you constantly seem to be going up and down stairs and corridors and with some of the areas quiet warm it is easy to get tired and then start not to enjoy yourself.  As can be seen on a lot of the faces.  To enter the main exhibition is 9 Euros it is not wise to add on the additional exhibitions or go fro the multi museum pass unless you have a particular interest.  To the average tourist this I can assure you will be overdose.
If you have the energy take a break from the museum at lunch time and walk a short way to some of the small restaurants slightly off the beaten track (Your ticket will allow re-entry).

A couple that we tried were theL'Auberge Du Louvre. This served traditional French lunches with a good value menu of the day whilst the La Taverne de ' Arrbre Sec was a bit more imaginative.

I remember my mother telling me about going to Paris and the Louvre just after the second world war and nearly missing seeing the Mona Lisa.  Things are much better now with electronic guides and signposting but for the more causal visitor who has not done their research and only spending a day looking round you will miss some important sights.  But you will have experienced the magic of the amazing collections and the enjoyment of watching the tourists clicking cameras and speed videoing their way to culture.