As the crowds dictate, the Louvre is an amazing place.  It is actually the most visited museum in the world.  The greatest part about the Louvre is that you can have it all to yourself.  It's amazing, there are over 35,000 works of art in this massive building and the majority of the people are in the general vicinity of the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.  Sure, it's important to say you've seen these masterpieces, but let that take about 5 seconds of looking over the mass of heads and stretched arms with cameras connected to them.  Once that's out of the way, say "check" and go explore.Even in the very wing of the Mona Lisa , you can find amazing things and study them without interruption. We decided to focus on little details, which is inspiration for our photo below.  This is a compilation of elements we found interesting, sometimes just a square inch from an 8 foot canvas.  It's amazing the different emotions captured in these paintings.We also found places like the Egyptian section to be virtually empty.  Go ahead, wait in line to buy a ticket, the Louvre doesn't have to be a full contact art experience with Da Vinci Code fans.