Louvre ticket machines
 

I have read tons of info online about buying Louvre tickets from the machines at the Carrousel du Louvre but I can't find out:
1. Do those machines accept American credit cards?
2. If you must use cash, exactly how much does a Louvre ticket cost?
3. What kind of bills or coins does the machine accept?

Thanks

The Louvre website tells you what tickets costs, it is somewhere around 10 euro (14 euro with special exhibitions). I don't really recall the details, I suspect I used cash as I would definitely have more than that on me in Paris, no matter what. Pretty sure they take bills as well as coins. It would accept euro bills and coins, not sure what your last question means. Maybe someone else remembers the fine details on whether they only take coins (I really doubt that, but don't know for sure).

YOu can always buy tickets ahead at FNAC stores or ticket offices in Virgin Megastore records on the Champs-Elysees (ticketnet) and then you could use a credit card.

The Louvre ticket machines accept American cards without chips.

Jumping in along the same lines....

I am planning to go to the Louvre on a Friday night as I am 25 and can get in for free. I am assuming I cannot use ticket machines as I will have to show ID to someone. Is this correct? Is my only choice then to enter through the pyramid?

You have misunderstood something about Louvre entrances. There is never a situation where you can only enter through the pyramid, there are multiple entrances and most people can enter any of them. You can enter at the Pyramid, the galerie du Carrousel (the underground), or the Porte des Lions. There are people who can check IDs for free entry at any of them, no is ever forced to use a machine if they don't want to (you can go to the cashier to buy a ticket in any case). But the Porte des Lions entrace is closed at nights and on Fridays, I think. If you already have a ticket or museum pass, there is a special line at the Pyramid entrance, though.

But you think only people who want to use the ticket machine can enter underground, and that isn't true. It is just a security checkpoint, actually, that leads to a big courtyard with ticket machines and a cashier and the gift shop.

In fact, the pyramid entrance just leads to the same courtyard where the underground metro entrance leads at the Carrousel du Louvre.