Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the Great Gallery, find one of the museum's best-known paintings,
The Laughing
Cavalier
(1624), by Frans Hals. With his hat perched at a jaunty angle, the man smirks
enigmatically with unhappy eyes...more of a polite chuckle or a bemused snort. As you
view the canvas from multiple angles, notice his eyes following you.
Then head back down to the main floor and go out the door behind the staircase, into
the building's gorgeous, glassed-in atrium, filled with light and a restaurant (with slow
service and overpriced food).
Downstairs from the atrium, you'll find a tiny gallery displaying methods of restora-
tion and, often, a revolving exhibit.
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Madame Tussauds Waxworks
This waxtravaganza is gimmicky, crass, and crazily expensive, but dang fun...a hit with
the kind of tourists who skip the British Museum. The original Madame Tussaud did wax
casts of heads lopped off during the French Revolution (such as Marie-Antoinette's). She
took her show on the road and ended up in London in 1835. These days, they've dumped
