Musée du Louvre > Reviews > Loving The Louvre...Or Not

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Advantages:	Good collection, interesting pyramid / palace combo for the structure
Disadvantages:	Entrance fees, and the other visitore

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Perceived by many to be home to one of the best art collections in the world, I would describe the Louvre as, well, not bad. Maybe that’s a little unfair – they certainly had some magnificent pieces on display, but the setting for these, when compared to some of the other galleries in the rest of Europe and America that I’d been to this year lacked a certain, something. That special je ne sais quoi (no objections - since we’re in France I’m allowed a smattering of French) that makes a gallery a wonderful visiting experience.

It was back in 1190 that the then King Phillippe-Auguste ordered the construction of a fortress to protect the city. In the 4 centuries following, it was improved and enlarged by the reining monarchs. This building is now the Louvre gallery, which most recently (well 1989) had a huge glass pyramid added to the main courtyard through which visitors enter the main building.

The collection here is pretty varied – we have European paintings and sculptures from the1400s onwards, not to mention Oriental, Egyptian and Roman artefacts. Some of the most well known items on display include the “Venus de Milo” statue (semi-naked woman, no arms), Géricault’s “Raft of Medusa” (semi-naked men – lots of them – spread-eagled across a raft) and of course de Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” (tiny and dark in person, and not nearly as enticing as some of the pictures make out, although the bullet proof glass could have had something to do with this).

As I mentioned, I had no problems with the art on display, it was the manner in which the pieces were displayed to which I objected. Even on a dull winter weekend, the place was packed with Japanese tourists clicking away, oblivious to the signs screaming “No Photographs” in a number of languages, not to mention the universal language of pictures – how a camera in a red circle with a slash through it could be misinterpreted I don’t know….. There were some wonderful views from the windows, but the actual interior was nothing special – scuffed floors and fingerprinted glass do not thoughts of a typical palace invoke.

There were very few signs to the different sections (such a contrast with the Met in New York in which every door was labelled and sign posts were positioned at every turning) and all the “important” pieces were in close proximity which, although time saving for people who wanted to “do” the gallery in a very short period of time, meant that swarms of visitors were huddled in the same 2 rooms. Crowd control is obviously not their forte. Although there were guides in most rooms, from eavesdropping it soon became apparent that the majority were not only bored and un-knowledgeable, but mono-lingual too. Not the best mix for a major tourist destination within the city.

Fact File :

· Nearest Metro

Palais Royal, Louvre (lines 1 and 7)

· Busses

21, 24, 27, 39, 48, 67, 68, 69, 72, 76, 81, 85, 95

· Opening Hours

Mon : 9am – 9.45pm
Tues : CLOSED
Wed : 9am – 9.45pm
Thurs : 9am - 6pm
Fri : 9am - 6pm
Sat : 9am - 6pm
Sun : 9am - 6pm

We had to go at weekend since we were there for such a short time, but I have to say I would not recommend Saturdays and Sundays – even at just after 9am (we’re early risers in our family) it was getting busy.

· Extras

Guided tours are available in a number of languages, and there are films and concerts throughout the year. There are shops, cafes, restaurants and toilets within the building, and there’re even facilities for exchanging money although the rates for Francs were pretty steep – how the Euro will affect this I don’t know. Some of the shops were specialist – there was one only selling books for example – but there were many littler outlets and temporary stands vending the usual tourist souvenirs – 50p postcards and toy statues and so on. We didn’t eat in a restaurant at the time, but I can acknowledge that the ice creams at the poshest café were, well, delicious.

· Entrance Fees

I paid 46 F which was roughly £4.50 when we went – quite expensive as student entrances go. The adult ticket was about £6 (now about 10 Euros), but again these vary depending on time of day, and the exhibitions you wanted to see (some carried a surcharge). On the positive side, the ticket was valid all day, so you could leave for lunch at a more reasonably priced place, and return later for more browsing.

Overall, while I enjoyed my visit, I wouldn’t necessarily want to return on my next trip to the city. Definitely worth going once, but more than that is debatable.