One of The Idiot’s favorite museums in the world is the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, CA. The Idiot recently dropped in to see the results of a revamp that changed the order of the exhibitions from thematic to chronological.

Here’s what you’ll see when you pay your next, or first, visit to the inviting museum built by J. Paul Getty and modeled on the Villa Debi Papiri in Italy’s Bay of Naples. Originally opened in 1974 and completely redone in 2006, the museum looking over the Pacific Ocean features Etruscan, Greek and Roman art.

The Idiot usually explores the gardens before and after looking at the art at the Getty Villa.

Exploring the gardens at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, CA.

Exploring the gardens at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, CA.

Exploring the gardens at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, CA.

Exploring the gardens at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, CA.

Looking into the gardens at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, CA, from a window inside the museum.

The Idiot gets an overview of the museum, reflectively sits in the outdoor theater and has a bite to eat before meandering through the Getty Villa museum

An outdoor look at the Getty Museum.

The outdoor theater at the Getty Villa.

Having a portobello mushroom sandwich before visiting the Getty Villa museum.

The Getty Villa has 44,000 Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities in its collection. Here’s what Alexander the Great, who features prominently in The Idiot and the Odyssey III which will be published in July, and The Idiot looked like at the Getty Villa in mid-June.

The head of Alexander the Great at the Getty Villa.

The body of Alexander the Great at the Getty Villa.

The Idiot Emperor of Carthage, Lord of Many Domains, at the Getty Villa.

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About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."