unemployed in US..good for free admissions in paris museums?
 

I have read that many of the museums offer free admission to the unemployed. Anyone know if this is true for unemployed US citizens too?

How can an unemployed American go to europe?

Somehow this unemployed American knew that question was going to pop up! Trip paid for by friend.

How would you prove you are unemployed? That is absurd.
Some museums have "suggested" admissions. For instance, if you went to the Met in NY, you could pay a dime and still get in. But you would have to check with each museum to see if there are free days or admission fees are optional.

Since you won't be collecting French (or EU) Job Seeker Allowances you don't qualify.

I don't believe you are entitled to any discount. I think you are referring to a discount which museums in the EU may offer to other EU nationals, or which a country may offer to its own citizens. Museums in the EU do not offer senior citizen discounts to US senior citizens, but do offer them to EU senior citizens, so by analogy, I don't believe they extend any other EU benefits to non-EU nationals (other than Swiss). I know that museums in Switzerland do not extend senior citizen discounts to non-EU or non-Swiss citizens; I don't know about other non-EU discounts or other in-country discounts offered by EU countries.

The only discounts that generally apply across the board are student discounts. If you can qualify for some sort of student ID before you go, this would be very helpful when traveling and visiting museums in Europe. However, if you have some kind of "proof" of unemployment, it would not hurt to show it and ask about a discount when buying an admission ticket, but I would be surprised if you would get one.

It states clearly on the web site of museums such as Louvre, musee d'orsay etc that there is free admission for unemployed. It says "visitors" so I am not sure it means people who are not French citizens. I do have documentation that I received from the unemployment office.

Yeah, it probably also clearly says that senior citizens get a discount, but unless you have EU or French senior citizen papers, they don't give you the discount; so that is what makes me think they won't give a US citizen an unemployment discount.

I would bring an offical French translation of your proof of unemployment; you can usually get these done at a French consulate in a nearby city or the French embassy in Washingon. The website for the French embassy is http://www.consulfrance-washington.org

I am almost positive that non-French citizens are not entitled to free admission for being seniors or unemployed.

You can just go on their Free days, if you find it too expensive.

Yes, I've wondered this exact same question when I saw this on their website or on a pamphlet. I was curious about whether this policy was a kind of national subsidy for the unemployed, or whether it expressed a philosophical principle about the relationship between indigence and one's unquestioned entitlement to art and high culture, irrespective of class.

I always loved the idea that the Met Museum asks for a 'donation'..Why should a starving artist or student or person on a fixed income, be denied that art?
Sure, as visitors from another country, I think we should pay, but in our own, doesn't it belong to all of us?
So I guess it is the same over there, the French allow their citizens to enjoy their treasures but the visitors gotta pay ~
Seems fair enough to me. And if one can afford to fly to Paris, one should be able to manage the price of admission..skip a dessert or a beer or glass of wine, pay to get in.

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How would you prove you are unemployed? That is absurd.
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as others have pointed out, it is common practice for unemployed people to receive free or discounted admissions. the proof is a benefit statement or the like. i'm not saying that this is possible or easy for a foreigner but you made a very strong statement for someone who knows nothing about this benefit.

"but in our own [country] , doesn't [art in museums] belong to all of us?

Scarlett, the last time I went to the Met, the lighting of the exhibits was not operated by coin-operated, timed light switches, the way one finds in churches abroad, for example. I further enjoyed the building's being heated, for it was a cool day - just as I would enjoy its being air-conditioned, on a hot one. I certainly might wish that energy came free, but wishing it were, won't make it so.

The building's floors were polished and clean, as were the washrooms. As you are a kind and generous lass, I presume you wouldn't object to the personnel who clean it for us being paid - we might show as much compassion for those who seek employment in such jobs, as for those who are unemployed.

Not to mention the cost of supplying water and sewage systems to the building, which visitors use.

The walls must be painted and the electrical systems maintained, not to mention the controls instituted to prevent fires.

Curators were on hand both to assist the visitor, not to mention the legion behind the scenes who catalogue the artwork, clean it, rotate it through storage (maintained in special rooms of controlled humidity) and organize it for exhibits, including when art is loaned to other museums. Then there is the security staff who must keep tabs on those who might become, shall we say, overly fond of the art on exhibit, to the point that they might like to make, shall we say, a souvenir of it. Which brings us to the next item on the accounts payable list of museums - insurance. Theft insurance, fire insurance, and worst of all, liability insurance (for when, for example, that piece of sculpture falls on Mrs. Jones' little darling who insisted on playing with it.)

Regarding the original question, to the best of my knowledge, benefits of a given state, including free admission to museums, are reserved for the citizens of that state.

"How would you prove you are unemployed? That is absurd"

I know it sounds quite exotic for an American, but in Europe when you are unemployed, you are affiliated to a State employment agency, called in France ANPE. So you get a card, that you can flash out to the cashier at a museum or a movie theater and that proves that you are unemployed.
As for the equivalent American card working in French museums, I don't know. As often in France, it must depend on the cashier's mood/personal judgment and on how politely you addressed her. Some people here must have first hand experience of this, but I don't think senior "privileges" are denied to American visitors of French museums. My parents take advantage of all the available senior rates when they go to the States.

The Louvre website is abundantly clear about this.

"list of acceptable proofs of entitlement is available at the museum from the Information Desk Tel.: +33 (0)1 40 20 53 17"

Just pick up the phone and ask.

The MACBA in Barcelona does not recognize US unemployment papers for free admission, even if they are translated. I would assume that is common practice for all the museums.

Oh, and the official translation will probably end up consting more than getting into the museums you are interested in seeing.

To guarentee discounts, you should go for an STA card (if you are 25 or under).

You obviously have walking around money or you have a very generous friend. If all else fails, get the friend to spring for the price of admission.

Art_Vandelay= best name on the board.

Musee de l'Armee, this building exhibits artifacts from French wars down through history also Napoleons Tomb, when we visited it on a Sunday afternoon in Sept 2005 there was no enterance fee.