I love this building. It is one of the historical gems of Paris. This is where Napoleon held court and ruled his empire. The architecture is imposing and very grand. It was designed to impress.

You can imaging regiments of Napoleons Imperial Guard marching and lining up to parade their battle honour Eagles in front of their commander in chief. The new glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre Museum is one of those features you either love or hate.

I adore it. It's the juxtaposition of modern sleek reflective hard lines against the ornate decorated walls of the Lourve Palace that I feel complement each other because of the stark contrast in their design. If you are visiting Paris with children they will enjoy putting their hands in the many ponds that surround the pyramid. Why a pyramid? Napoleon invaded Egypt. The scientist and artists traveling with the army studied them. The result of their work started an Egyptian fashion sensation back in Paris.

The longest queues to get into the Louvre are at the Pyramid main entrance. If it is raining you will get very wet. On rainy days queue at the underground entrances by the Galerie du Carousel, 99 rue de Rivoli, with a connection to the Metro station and by the Carousel gardens.

If you have not already done so buy a 'Carte Musees et Monuments' museum pass in the Tourist Welcome Centre in the underground Galerie du Carousel. Get there early and start queuing before opening time at 9am. The longest queues are between 10am and 12 noon. Avoid the first Sunday of every month as the entrance is free and the queues are huge.

The rules on taking photographs in the Lourve have changed. You are now allowed to take still and video photography so long as it is for private use only. The use of flash or other means of artificial lighting is prohibited so turn off your automatic flash. Most modern phone cameras can cope with the low light but if you have an SLR camera adjust the ISO sensitivity of your camera if you can to a higher number to enable you to take photos in the muted light of the galleries. Turn the ISO auto setting off and adjust to 400 or 800.

Be prepared to be disappointed at the size of the Mona Lisa painting and annoyed at the amount of people around her. The thick protective glass does not enhance your viewing. One of the surprises to be found at this French national museum of art are the preserved foundations of the medieval castle that once stood in this location in the basement. The castle was there to protect the people of Paris when Viking long ships sailed up the River Seine to attack and plunder the city.

More than 50,000 objects can be found in the Egyptian collection of the Louvre. It is the second largest in the world after Cairo. This is not surprising as the collection started with Napoleon Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt between 1798 and 1801. Many looted items found their way back to Paris. The very talented French linguist Jean-Francois Champollion was the genius who worked out how to translate the ancient Egyptian writing back in 1822. He was appointed curator of a new Egyptian department in the Louvre that was inaugurated in 1827 under King Charles X.

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