“In the hall of the Baby Jesuses” at Yahoo! Travel

This week at Yahoo! Travel, Rolf relives his first visit to the Louvre in Paris, and subsequent lapse into the typical tourist rhythm at one of the largest art museums at the world by heading straight for the Mona Lisa.

“In tourist terms, hurrying through hallways of miscellaneous masterpieces to seek out the Mona Lisa was kind of like picking one harried celebrity from a crowd of a thousand interesting people and bugging her with questions I could have answered by reading a gossip magazine.”

Attempting to visit the Louvre can be a disorienting experience. Even attempting to see the whole thing could take days, as it’s a full three miles around the horseshoe-shaped perimeter. You could, of course, partake in one of the many guided tours offered by Louvre staff, or—like Rolf—you could create a less traditional tour of your own by “seeking out each Baby Jesus in the building.”

“Silly as this may sound, it was a fascinating way to ponder the idiosyncrasies of world-class art. Each Baby Jesus in the Louvre, it seemed, had his own, distinct preoccupations and personality.”

Even so, Rolf finds himself contemplating the role of museums in a world of “competing information,” while attempting to figure just what one is supposed to do while visiting one.

“For me, an afternoon spent eyeing pretty girls in the Jardin des Tuileries has always carried as much or more promise than squinting at baroque maidens in a place like the Louvre.”

To read the article in full—along with tips on how to make your next museum visit more manageable and memorable—head over to Yahoo! Travel.