With all we've been through through these last few years, the world as we've known it is changing fast.

The leader in the U.S. diplomatic corps reminds us that the script is changing on the stage of international relations as well.

We're not going back to what was called the American Century, so it's much more complex and it requires good diplomacy.

Former Ambassador Eric Rubin explains why he's an advocate for his fellow foreign service workers.

Admire the beauty of its collection as well as the setting itself when you visit the Louvre in Paris.

What Voltaire called the greatest piece of architecture ever to proceed from the mind of man, and that isn't perhaps too great an exaggeration.

And relive what it was like to see one of the world's greatest masterpieces for the first time.

Mona Lisa, that knocked my socks off. It's all in the hour ahead. Travel with Rick Spears. Come with us.

A while back, an art critic recommended to us on your first ever visit to a major art collection like the Louvre in Paris,

that you just let yourself breeze through the halls to get a first glance at everything.

He said it's sort of like a whale whose filter feeding.

James Gardner is back with us in a minute to recommend how to blitz your way through one of the world's largest art collections.

If you only have a few hours to spare.

And the former US Ambassador to Bulgaria explains the value of foreign service work and why he now represents America's embassy workers as the head of their trade association.

That's all coming up on today's 17th anniversary edition of Travel with Rick Steves.

The Louvre in Paris is considered by many to be the world's greatest art museum. It's certainly the world's most famous museum.

The art and architecture critic James Gardner has long loved the museum. In fact, his latest book is called the Louvre, the many lives of the world's most famous museum.

While I imagine this will break his art loving heart. He joins us today to debate with me the best three hour look at that collection.

James joins us now on Travel with Rick Steves to recommend the best blitz tour of the Louvre. Hey James, how are you doing?

Very well. Thank you for having me.

The situation you've got an attention span that could go for days and days but a lot of people they're just exhausted and they just want to see the Mona Lisa.

But we want to salvage a meaningful experience in the Louvre being realistic about how much time and energy people have.

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