Amateur Guide

Amateur Guide

In the past year, I have on occasion walked through the Louvre accompanied by two or three people, family, friends, journalists, whom I have led to some of my favorite spots. But today I’ve accepted to act as a guide to a group of about twenty people, members of an association I support. I concocted for them an hour-and-a-half tour, of which we have completed two-thirds, in two hours. I warned them before we started that we would see no flagship works: no Mona Lisa, no Venus de Milo, no Crown Jewels, no Sphinx, no mummy…. We would steer clear of the crowds, dense a few days before Easter. Yesterday, like a pro, I rehearsed my itinerary, from The Beautiful German Woman to the Cour Marly, by way of Islamic art, the Galerie Campana, the Escalier du Chien, the Corot bathroom, Poussin, and the MNR collection (of artwork recovered from Nazi plunder). I have now mastered the stairs. We’ve walked a lot, but without once losing our way. Nevertheless, some of my flock, being not so young, would have preferred to take the elevators, which I know nothing about. I decided to call it a day, revealing myself to be not yet at the level of a professional guide. All the same, I did show them the beautiful view from the Galerie Campana, looking out on the Pont des Arts and my second home (Sully, room 655).