jill

I've seen several posts about the museum passes allowing you to "jump the line" ahead of the non-pass holders, but how do you know which door to go in to avoid those awful long lines?

Liz

At the D'orsay, we just walked to the front of the hundreds of people at the only entrance we saw. Seconds later we we in. We were so stunned we didn't know what to do next! I assume they would direct you to another door if there was a special one with the pass.

x

As in the D'Orsay-you walk up to the door, there are double doors at the front of the museum.You can walk to those or just around to the left is a single door, they all have guards at them, and you just show your pass and they let you in~<BR>The Louvre, you just walk past the person standing at the escalator when you come in the Pyramid and show the pass and walk on~<BR>You don't really "jump the line"-there is usually a door that takes pass holders and the rest of the people stand in another line.

Grasshopper

When you buy the museum pass there is a little book included which tells you where to go in each case.

jill

Thanks so much!

Jessica

Can anyone tell me where to buy the pass? Thx.<BR>

Grasshopper

We bought it at a tourist information office but I've been told you can buy them at Metro ticket offices as well. There is a tourist office on the Champes d'elesee just down from the Arch de Triumph.

Christina

The last time I was at the d'Orsay, last July, there was a very very long line of people waiting to get in and there was a separate door to the left of them that had a sign on it for passholders. This was at the entrance on the quai, Seine side (there is another entrance for groups).<BR><BR>You can buy it at any participating museum, at Paris Tourist Offices, and RER/metro stops (they say "major" metro stops, which would be one with at least a couple lines running through it). I get mine at metro stops, it's the easiest as you want it before you get to the busy ones, and it is NOT a good idea to wait until you get to the Musee d'Orsay, see the line, and then decide you will buy it at the closest metro stop as lots of people do that and sometimes they run out of them (ditto the small museum across from d'Orsay), they were out of them last July. Same for the Louvre, I'll bet. Here is the Museum Pass web site with detailed info, including places on the card:<BR>http://www.intermusees.com/wwwie/index.html

janis

I buy mine at Waterloo if I am taking the Eurostar - otherwise at the airport or train station when I arrive in Paris. Don't wait until a metro station since as Christina says, they can run out. <BR><BR>And do not buy them at any of the large venues (Louvre, Orsay, etc.) since you would have to stand in the looooong line you are trying to avoid to get inside to buy the thing.

Barb

The Paris Museum Pass is great! Not only do you get to skip to the head of the line, but it makes it possible to duck into smaller museums just for a quick look, or allows you to go back a second time to see a favorite. Look for the "Group Tickets" sign--show the pass and skip past all those other people waiting.

elvira

The d'Orsay, especially if there's a special exhibit, sometimes makes you wait in line anyway, BUT, as someone pointed out, you have the freedom to pop in near closing time (no lines) for a half hour without having to pay the entrance fee.<BR><BR>Metro stations, RER stations, and every museum sells them (like the Balzac museum which never has any lines).<BR><BR>At Versailles, there is a special entrance (it was "D" a couple of years ago) for pass holders. At the Louvre, there's an entrance in the wing closest to rue du Rivoli.<BR><BR>I think it encourages people to visit museums they wouldn't otherwise, even for 30 minutes, and that's a wonderful thing.

Sue

I also read somewhere that you could enter the Orsay from the bookstore, which has an outside entrance.

tom

The d'orsay only requires pass holders to stand in line for special exhibitions if they have a separate entrance charge, not to get inside the museum itself.

Christina

Maybe you used to be able to, but when I was there, you couldn't enter the museum from the bookstore. You could go into the bookstore to shop, if you wanted, without waiting in line, though. I wasn't saying not to get it at a metro stop, that is where I get mine, I just meant don't wait to get it at the stop right near the Louvre or Orsway. But, they might not stock them as much as some of the other venues, I suppose (although some of the smaller museums run out, also).

Christina

Upon thinking about this, I think there may have been an entrance from the bookstore into the museum if you already had a museum pass (or ticket) as that was right next to the long ticket line. But I remember you couldn't bypass the long line to buy a ticket by going into the bookstore and getting a pass there if you didn't already have one (and I think I remember you used to be able to buy one in there, not sure). I was there at peak tourist season, though.

greg

At Versailles, it was tough to find the entrance for pass holders. There are many entrances. I did not find any signage on the way nor at the door saying "passholder entrance" (neither in French nor in English). So I had to go to info booth (for which there was a direction) then was told to use the GROUP entrance, very intuitive...

Es

The catch that no-one seems to be talking about with museum passes is the fact that there are often huge queues of 'museum pass' holders waiting to get in. We had to wait in a 30 min queue for the Louvre and a 50 min queue for Notre Dame. There was a huge queue for D'Orsay and it was only after asking the authority at the front of the queue for the entrance for "Pass" holders that I was informed that you should just walk up to the front of the queue and walk in. Quite awkward actually. And we had waited 20 mins before I thought to ask - no signs posted.