LOUVRE PALACE, Cour Napoleon

You are in the Cour Napoleon, between the rear facade and the long symmetrical wings of the "New Louvre". Beyond the "Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel you can see the splendid Tuileries gardens.

I'll talk about the art collections in the files on the museum, but for now I'll just say that the Louvre was already being used as a museum during the French Revolution, when the works confiscated from religious buildings started to arrive: the building first accommodated the newly-created Musée Central des Arts in 1793.

For now, take another look at the building to fully appreciate its delightful symmetry. This is down to Napoleon III, who completed the "Grand Dessein" in the mid-19th century - the "Grand Design" that was started two and a half centuries earlier by Henry IV when construction of the Richelieu wing began, facing the wing alongside the Seine. Unfortunately, the Tuileries Palace was destroyed during the terrible popular uprising of 1871, which led to the formation of a socialist government, the "Paris Commune". The two symmetrical pavilions at the end of the whole complex were reconstructed towards the end of the 1800s in a new decorative style that could almost be the precursor to Art Nouveau....