Side door to Louvre? Save time?
 

Has anyone heard of the quicker way to get in the Louvre? I heard that there is an elusive 'side door' which is quicker than going in at the Pyramid? Anyone know where this is? Thanks!

Rick Steves refers to it in his guidebook on Paris. It is through the Carousel shopping mall underground. You don't get the drama of entering the pyramid, but you can always exit through the pyramid and delay the drama of it all until then. By the way, we really enjoyed his descriptions of major art works in the Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay.

There's a special entrance for those with a Carte Musees et Monuments. See www.louvre.fr for details. We breezed right on in.

If you have the Carte Musee, you can quickly enter the Louvre through the Richelieu entrance. It is on the same side as the Rue de Rivoli.

The entrance is in the passage way that comes off of Rue de Rivoli just opposite the Pyramid. There will be a guard that will you show your pass to and then go to entrance to the wing that you wish to visit. No ticket is needed. At the Musee D'Orsay look for the group entrance.

I already replied in your other thread, but now that this one's become active I'll mention it here, too: <BR> <BR>There's an alternate entrance via the Carrousel du Louvre shopping complex at 99 rue de Rivoli. You don't need to have bought a pass in advance (Carte Musées, etc.): you will still end up *under* the pyramid, where you can buy a ticket.

I bought my tickets through ticket web. The Louvre web site has a link to them. Can I still enter with the people who have the Cart Musee?

In many dozens of visits to the Louvre, I have never once encountered more than one or two people in front of me and we all moved along quite quickly. For the past several years, I usually enter through the mall because it is the closest entrance to my hotel...ususally one or two people in front of me; we move along quite quickly!

Gosh, I have pictures of long lines snaking around outside the pyramid, and then down the stairs once inside before they hit the inside entrance. We used the Carte Musee and had the wonderful opportunity to capture those lines in terrific photos, without having to endure them!

There is a stairway on each side of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. I'm not sure about the south one, but I have entered via the north one which led down to the shopping area. From there I went to the area under the pyramid. Since I stay on the left bank, it is closer than the rue de Rivoli entrance for me. You don't need a ticket or Carte until you go into one of the wings where the art is displayed. Boots