"Also, when I travelled around India I didn't see the Taj Mahal. I suspect this is a related phenomenon."

I suppose that I have been to the Louvre about ten times, and have never seen the Mona Lisa. I have seen the Venus de Milo, though (or whatever you want to call her). She is a lovely lady, and definitely worth looking at. I have also seen the Victory of Samothrace. An interesting little curiosity, of almost as much artistic importance as the more obscure works of Benozzo Gozzoli.