Carrousel de Louvre
 

I've been to the Louvre 2 times, but I don't think I have experienced the Carrousel. Pls tell me about it. I remember walking past some museum stores, perhaps that was the Carrousel, but I thought there was supposed to be an international food area??? The Carrousel's website, when I click on nearby eateries, gives me the neighborhood (not an underground area) and suggests that the carrousel is for fashion shows, etc. I'm confused. Thx.

It's much more than just some museum stores, though some of the stores there strongly resemble what you might think of as museum stores, books, posters, etc).<BR><BR>There's a very large Virgin Megastore right at the center. In many ways it will seem as familiar (to an American) as any other large mall. It is underground; makes it a great refuge for a rainy, blustery day. I entered it form the bottom of the pyramind entrance to the Louvre itself. I think there must be 3 or 4 other entrances.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

The entrance to the shops, right on the Rue de Rivoli, is actually a great way to segue into the Louvre itself.

To add a little more, that underground area is huge (called Carrousel du Louvre) and consists of stores, exhibition space (where they do the fashion shows, I suppose), a parking garage and the food court. However, there is also the Jardin du Carrousel and the Place du Carrousel up above (which may be the neighborhood guide you are looking at), which is what that area was named after. There is the Arc de Triomphe u Carrousel, also, a monument where the place is, just to the west of the pyramid entrance, and going further west is the Jardin du Carrousel, which leads into the Tuileries gardens. There was a real carrousel there hundreds of years ago (Louis XIV or so), which was one of the first (if not the first) public one for enjoyment of children and the general public, rather than nobility or a training game. The guillotine was there at one point, also, I think, before going to the pl de Concorde.<BR><BR>In any case, if you only walk from the metro to the Louvre entrance, you don't see the food area, but if you look for the signs on the walls, you should see a sign directing you to the restaurant or food area (I can't recall what it's called, but I'm sure you'll find it if you look). It is quite large, actually, but not on that same floor, you have to go up one level, I think.

to the top<BR>

Nice thing about the Carrousel food court is that it offers international foods at reasonable prices - and has a good-sized non-smoking section.