Louvre
 

We are going to Paris and we want to visit the Louvre. If anyone knows how to beat the lineups please let us know<BR>thanks<BR> -m&d

we were there a month ago with the pre-purchased museum card --- and walked through the passage richelieu with little or no waiting. we went on a saturday afternoon, sunday at 9 a.m. (the most crowded time for us) and monday evening.<BR><BR>the museum is enormous, but it was a breeze to use the card and just walk in.<BR><BR>before leaving, i went to the louvre website and got the floor plans of the museum so i would know which exhibits were where. i also studied which exhibits would be closed which days (everything is not open EVERY day).<BR><BR>hope this helps, and that you have a great time.<BR>

There are a few automatical ticket machines, where you can immediately purchase your ticket using an ATM card. Never seen more than two or three persons in line.

Definitely buy a museum pass in advance. It's available at the dozens of sites that accept it (Arc de Triomphe, Rodin Museum, etc., etc., etc.), major metro stations and tabacs. Also, your hotel may also be of help in obtaining one. By the way, you don't have to be going to the site where you buy the pass.

PS: The costs of the pass: one-day is $15; three-day in $30; five-day in $45. Even if you're only going to the Louvre, it's worth spending the extra money for a one-day pass even if that's the only place you're going. (However, you might want to also stop at Ste. Chapelle or another site which is also on the museum card for a brief visit.)

We were expecting a line, and went through with no problem, but we went on a weekday, about an hour after it opened. I suspect that the lines do appear on weekends and get worse as the summer progresses. If possible try to break up your visit between two days - there is so much to see, it is mind boggling. But worth every moment and every penny.

We were there last Spring and the line was miles long... An old man by the name of Hans who was a self empoloyed Tour Guide approached us. Said he could get us right in and escort and explain some of the highlights to us. Cost- $10 per person. We were reluctant, but my husband was not about to stand in line for 2 hours. So, he picked up a mother & Daughter team from Australia and away we went....He got us down a passage way to the ticket area where we purchased our Museum Pass. <BR>We were with him the entire morning and it was money well spent!

Finding and studying the floor-plan before you depart is EXCELLENT advice, I wish that I’d taken it or thought of it. We did indeed wait forever in a very long line. <BR><BR>Understand when I say the museum is truly all that it is said to be, if not considerably more, but the staff that we dealt with was cold, disinterested, and very much disinclined to help with ANY questions. <BR><BR>Not to start a big brew-ha-ha about the rudeness of Parisians, but all of us (a small group of friends, adults, English and American, we split up and went our separate ways in the museum), all of us had stories of how shabbily we were treated, independent of each other. <BR><BR>Yes, several of us spoke French, but were treated as if all we knew were grunts and groans, although our French had been perfectly serviceable during the rest of our 10 days. The main information desk run out of American/English brochures about 10 a.m. and, for whatever reason, did not bother to replace them, though it was re-stocked at opening next morning which led us to believe that they hadn’t actually “ran out” the previous day, rather that no one on staff could be bothered to replenish them. <BR><BR>LEARN ALL YOU CAN BEFORE YOU GO.<BR>

Also be aware that you can enter the museum through the Carousel (an attached mini-mall) instead of the glass pyramid.

The Carousel entrance is often used by big bus groups, so if you arrive after they do, you're screwed.<BR><BR>www.louvre.fr choose English, go to Ticket sales. you can buy the tickets ahead thru a variety of websites, and you enter thru the same passage as the museum pass holders. You probably will pay a service fee of some sort, but it's worth it to skip the lines (if you're visiting other museums, though, the pass is a better idea - available at most every metro station, and at every museum that accepts the pass and tourist office).

Remember that the pass will get you into a very long list of places in Paris. Well worth the money. The last time we were at the Louvre there must have over 1000 people in line to get in and we entered with no line thru the Richelieu passage.

When visiting the Louvre one is confronted with the fact that all paintings amd sculptures are described in French only. Did this perturb anyonelse?<BR>I know all the arguments that suggest French is the only language necessary; however, in light of the clearly international clientele, I would think the museum staff would want their exhibits to be understood and appreciated by as many people as possible and to accomplish this, would have at least one or more additional dominant languages. For example, I believe the Israel Museum in Jerusalem has all exhibits explained in hebrew, english and arabic.<BR>