Guess the Vacation Location LOL

June 19 2008

Ah, way back when, it was different.  She was just one among the many.  Yes, at some point, I had to admire her through bulletproof glass, but she was still low profile.

Then Dan Brown came along.  He exploited her, made everyone who loved her jealous.

Things got worse.  Then Tom Hanks ruined it for all of us.

Now look what happened.

Guess the June 2008 Vacation Location

Ed Brill Paris, France Category:  Travel  Add/View Comments [16]

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  1. 1  Keith Brooks http://lotustech.blogspot.com | 6/19/2008 2:30:51 PM

    I concur, it was nice to see her up close and simple with only a few tourists around.

    But the old ways don't entirely exist anymore do they?

  1. 2  Corey Davis http://www.conxsys.com/blog | 6/19/2008 2:40:52 PM

    All those other paintings and no one is looking at them. Amazing.

  1. 3  Grant Lindsay http://www.sherpasoftware.com | 6/19/2008 2:54:28 PM

    Is she still dwarfed on a huge wall by herself?

    They didn't allow photography when I saw her. But, with a crowd that size...

  1. 4  Richard Moy http://www.dominointerface.com | 6/19/2008 2:58:00 PM

    Over 20 years ago, I was able to see the Mona Lisa without any crowds. We got there just at the right time 10 minutes before the crowds started showing up. For a few minutes we had it to ourselves. You were able to stand much much closer. It looks like that does not happen anymore.

  1. 5  Mike Lazar  | 6/19/2008 3:00:11 PM

    What blows me away about the Denon wing is the sheer magnitude of priceless masterpieces there that people just blow by to see HER. I'm not saying the Mona Lisa isn't fabulous, but there are dozens of other paintings there that are just as magnificent and deserving of our jaws dropping. Sadly, the majority of the people in your picture will hardly give them a glance. I guess I'm lucky to be able to go to Paris a few times a year. I hit the museum in 3-4 hour chunks, and I don't wander too much. I have the luxury of being able to dawdle in areas knowing that I will have the chance to come back and see the rest.

  1. 6  Colin Williams  | 6/19/2008 3:08:23 PM

    That crowd looks worse than when I was there in '05! That said, I had to stand on tip toes to get a peek (I'm 6'1 BTW) and my wife saw the top of the frame.

    Good times, thanks for the memories!

  1. 7  Carl Kriger  | 6/19/2008 4:30:12 PM

    With the exception of the gender discrepancy, my guess was going to be this was a picture of the audience from an 'Ed Brill' presentation at one of the coolest venue's ever.

  1. 8  Henry Ferlauto http://www.geniusinside.com | 6/19/2008 8:55:30 PM

    How many people in that crowd have Sametime on their BlackBerry? :)

  1. 9  Lars Olufsen http://www.olufsphere.com | 6/20/2008 2:15:13 AM

    @5, Mike ... you are SO right!

    Last fall I did the 15 minute "La Gioconda - Aphrodite - Liberty" tour with my girlfriend (we only just made it through the door before closing and she had never been to Paris before).

    That was actually WORSE than not having seen them. Before there was the magic of the masterpieces at the Louvre. Now there are just the memories of fleeting glimpses of something we are told is art.

    Spend a week in Paris? Go to the Louvre at least twice, in 3-4 hour chunks, and just see what you see - don't hunt for something specific, you'll miss the best bits!

  1. 10  Roberto Boccadoro  | 6/20/2008 7:49:57 AM

    @5 - You are very right. Actually La Gioconda has not been my favorite painting there. I spent 15 minutes in front of a Guido Reni painting that all the rest of the people ignored to rush at the end of the wing.

  1. 11  Steve McDonald http://www.optimussolutions.com | 6/20/2008 8:29:14 AM

    I love it, last time I was there was 1991 (similar crowds). Will be in Paris for 9 days in October... Will hopefully get to spend "a few minutes" in the Louvre...

  1. 12  Richard Schwartz http://www.rhs.com/poweroftheschwartz | 6/20/2008 10:24:21 AM

    The crowd was much smaller when I was there last year. I must have picked a good time.

    While the Louvre may not be my favorite Paris museum, I have to agree with Lars that it deserves multiple visits with a generous amount of time allocated for just browsing around.

  1. 13  Brian Benz http://www.softwaresoapbox.com | 6/20/2008 11:52:35 AM

    When I used to visit regularly 20+ years ago, it used to get crowded like this on free Sundays, but week days if you get there early it could be you, the guard, the painting....Not any more!

  1. 14  Almar Diehl  | 6/20/2008 1:32:28 PM

    This photo was taken during the official launch of MS Vista by Bill and Steve. If they did that same show today everybody would be looking at the paintings ;-)

  1. 15  Tim Rand  | 6/20/2008 1:39:38 PM

    Rather I think you should blame the author, Dan Brown, or perhaps "Opie" Ron Howard for directing the movie so well.

  1. 16  Bernard  | 6/20/2008 4:18:32 PM

    Go to the Louvre late on Friday evening - there's no-one there. Sorry if this offends, but the tourist herds are so predictable - they get up early, and are all at dinner by 7pm. In fact, the 'take a photo of me in front of X'-mentality make my skin crawl. All the amazing things to see in any city of the world, and you can be sure 90% of tourists will be found doing the same 20 things. Tourists in London are as bad as in Paris - mostly they have no idea of why a particular thing is considered worth visiting: it's just worth visiting because that's the thing that tourists visit. The National Gallery in the UK is free and chock-full of amazing stuff, yet the tourists are all around the Da Vinci's and the impressionists.