Louvre Museum
(Musée National du Louvre)

Rue de Rivoli 
75001   Paris
Tél.:  01 4 020 53 17

Recording 01 40 20 51 51

Postal address
Musée du Louvre
75058 Paris Cedex 01

Tel. : (33) 01 40 20 50 50
Fax : (33) 01 40 20 54 42
E-mail 

Lourvre Museum Website
  

Métro: Palais Royal

Overall impression :  Founded in the 12^th century as a castle, the Louvre has one of the most extraordinary art collections in the world. It houses an extraordinary collection of approximately 290,000 works, including the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and many others. For the curious or moderate art lovers it merits at least one visit in a lifetime; for dedicated art lovers, perhaps there are never enough visits to satiate their need. 

What the Louvre has in art, it lacks in quiet. It has become increasingly popular over the years. During our last few visits, it was almost impossible to find a calm time to visit. There were always lines and more lines: Lines to buy tickets, lines to enter, lines for the restrooms, lines to leave your coat, lines for a snack, lines to purchase souvenirs.  That was during the low season.

It is a large well mapped place and there are free flyers in multiple languages to guide visitors to their chosen gallery. When you finally reach one of the famous artworks, brace yourself for a crowd. It seemed to us that regardless of the time of year or time of day, there were always crowds and lines around the most famous artworks.  We still feel driven to visit the Louvre when we are in Paris though instead of two or three visits, we only make one shorter visit. We spend the rest of our “museum” time di sc overing or revisiting smaller, quieter and more welcoming museums.  Paris has many to offer.

Owned/managed:   French Government

Established:  1793

Type of museum:   Antiquities, medieval art, old master art and much more

Tours available:   Yes; only one in English

Languages: According to the Louvre website, a free handbook in 9 languages (French, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Dutch, and Arabic) to help visitors find their way in the museum and the collections is available from the Info rmation Desk.  We saw information sheets in multiple languages in many of the galleries though the sheets were not always available in all the languages.

Average duration of visit:   Requires multiple visits to begin

Handicapped access:  Tel.: (33) 01 40 20 53 17 handicap@louvre.fr Wheelchairs available on loan. A special program was available for blind visitors, who could be invited to a sc ulpture gallery where they would be allowed to touch the sc ulptures.

Exhibits:  Italian, French and Spanish sc ulptures and paintings; Mesopotamia; Antique Iran; Greek, Etru sc an, Egyptian and Roman antiquities; history of the Louvre ; medieval Louvre ; art from Flanders, Netherlands, Holland; Renaissance, The July Monarchy, The Restoration, Middle Ages, Napoleon, and 17^th -19^th  centuries; Bronze Precious Objects; and English and Venetian paintings.

Souvenir shop:   Yes. Art reproductions, jewelry, books, postcards, a children’s section and museum guides were available when we visited. It was also possible to shop, in English, at the Louvre’s online website.

Other:   Closed Tuesdays. No smoking, flashes, food or animals were allowed in the Museum. We learned to purchase tickets in advance to avoid long lines. Another alternative is to purchase them at the automated tellers.  Otherwise, we plan enough time to purchase tickets, check coats, stop at the restroom, and wait in line. The last few times we were there, a convenient separate cloak room was available for visitors with fur and valuables. It was faster to check and pick up items in that room.

The information adjacent to the works of art was in French. We found the plastic covered information sheets, available in several languages (French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese) in the exhibit galleries, to be helpful at times. The process of visiting one or more galleries by reading the information sheets could extend our visit time significantly. In addition, often the English sheet was not in place or someone else was using it so we infrequently took advantage of them.

Most recent visit: January 2004              

Would you visit this museum again : Yes