So it’s your first time in Paris. Like many tourists, you’ll probably drop off your luggage and make a beeline for the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci’s early 16th century masterpiece. The downside of its status as the world’s most famous painting is that it’s protected as such.

The portrait, which hangs in the Louvre museum, is a mere 30 inches by 21 inches and is kept behind multiple, alternating layers of glass and sheets of protective plastic. And then there’s the rope barrier .

Behind that rope, six million visitors crowd the painting each year. Even if you get as close as is allowed, and you manage to catch a glimpse through the gap between two iPhones, you’ll probably still have to contend with a barrage of camera flashes.

But don’t give up on the Louvre. It’s over 650,000 square feet and has a lot of important artwork that can be enjoyed in peace, like the sculptures Venus de Milo and Nike of Samothrace.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa