Until about 15 minutes ago (I kid you not), I didn't even know there was an International Museum Day. But, there is. And, it's today. And since according to my exhaustive research (wink, wink),
"Every year since 1977, International Museum Day is held worldwide sometime around 18 May. From America and Oceania to Europe, Asia and Africa, International Museum Day aims to increase public awareness of the role of museums in developing society.
The theme for International Museum Day 2011 is Museum and Memory. Museums preserve memories and tell stories."
One of my favorite "museum and memory" stories (it is this year's theme, afterall) is the story of my husband and I having our first real date at the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum.
But no blog post about museums would be complete without writing about perhaps the world's greatest museum and definitely the world's most visited, The Louvre.
A museum that I was almost thrown out of for "leaning." At least I think that's what the guard said when he snarled at me. My kids got a kick of me getting in trouble at the Louvre.
Still, as overwhelmed as we were by the enormity of the 218 year old museum and its huge collection (and the unpleasantness of the guards), we were delighted to see
 |
| The Pyramid |
 |
| Winged Victory |
 |
| The cover of Cold Play's album VIva La Vida (just kidding, it's "Liberty Leading The People" by Delacroix) |
 | ||
| and, of course, The Mona Lisa. |
