Musée du Louvre: Don't Underestimate Its Size
Written: Apr 13 '03 (Updated Jan 02 '05)
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Pros: great masterpieces of art, beautiful historic setting
Cons: can be crowded, way too much to see, can be navigationally complicated
The Bottom Line: The Musée du Louvre is definitely worth your time to see but do a bit of advance preparation in order to make the most of your visit.
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| jdhauer's Full Review: Musée du Louvre |
Let's get one thing straight: the Musée du Louvre is immense. I don't care if you're the Six Million Dollar Man racing from masterpiece to masterpiece. You're not going to see everything in one day. What you can do is make the most of the time you spend in the Louvre to ensure that you have a good day and that you don't feel overwhelmed by "art overload". I'd recommend spending no more than half a day at the Louvre.
Preparation before your visit
1. If you can, get a guidebook out of your local library. We looked at The Pocket Louvre, the Michelin Green Guide and Rick Steve's Paris before drawing up a general touring plan. You have to be flexible though as unluckily for us, three of the pieces we really wanted to see (Michaelangelo's Dying Slave, Canova's Psyche and Cupid and the Borghese Gladiator) were in halls that were closed the day we visited.
2. Buy a Museum Pass! It is worth every penny just to skip the lines if there are any. We were lucky with the Louvre and were able to waltz right up to the Pyramid main entrance with no wait whatsoever but later in the day, we say others lined up.
3. Keep in mind that you don't have to enter the Musée du Louvre through the Pyramid. There is an entrance by the Arc du Triomphe du Carrousel (the Carrousel Gardens) where we walked right in after taking a break in the Tuileries to watch the ducks. You go down some stairs and through an underground shopping mall to get to the reception area. Other entrances include #99 at Rue de Rivoli and through the Porte des Lions but that one was closed during our visit. I believe you can also access the reception area from the Louvre metro stop through the Passage Richelieu but we didn't attempt that since we walked over from our hotel and it was on the other side of the building.
If you do have the opportunity to enter or exit through the Pyramid, it's nice enough but not something you absolutely must do. We first entered through the Pyramid only because there was absolutely no line at all.
4. Plan to wear good supportive walking shoes since you will spend a lot of time on your feet.
5. Forget the flash camera and plan to buy postcards at the gift shop. I say that despite the fact that I had some really nice photos turn out sans flash. I don't understand the phenomenon of having your picture taken with the Mona Lisa but that's just me.
Admission
Admission prices vary depending upon the day you enter and the type of admission that you purchase. Ordinary adult admission is 7 and a half euros. We each purchased a 3 day Museum Pass which cost 30 euros.
An additional purchase that many people make is renting an audiotour or signing up for a guided tour. We chose to see the Louvre at our own pace without the audiotour. If you didn't bring a guidebook, there are plenty of them available in the museum shop to purchase.
Layout
Once again, I stress that the Musée du Louvre is immense. It stretches about six city blocks in length and it's four stories tall, not regular 10 foot stories but oversized stories with sweeping 25 feet (or more) ceilings.
The collections are spread between three wings: Denon, Sully and Richelieu. Keep in mind that it's not always easy to get from one place to another. We had to make numerous detours to get from one end of the Richelieu wing to go down two stories in the Sully Wing. We were able to see some amazing art along the way but it was an unintended detour.
The Denon Wing is where most first time visitors immediately flock if they've read their maps or guidebooks. This is where you'll find Greek antiquities (such as Venus de Milo and Victoire du Samothrace) and the Grand Gallery filled with Italian paintings. At the very end, off in a small room of her own is the Mona Lisa.
Over in the Richelieu wing are French sculptures, Islamic arts, Mesopotamian antiquities and thousands of French, German and Dutch paintings. You'll also find the restored apartments of Napoleon III.
In the Sully Wing, there are more French paintings and drawings, the Crown diamonds, Egyptian antiquities and art, and on the lower ground floor: the Medieval Louvre.
Back under the Pyramid, you'll find somewhat reasonably priced cafés. We had lunch at the Café Richelieu where my husband had a pre-made chicken and bacon sandwich, chips and a soda for 8 euros. For the same price, I had a large plate of salad from the salad bar and a large bottled water. The salad bar is priced by the size of the plate you choose and not by weight. In addition to lettuce and vegetables, there were some very interesting marinated choices. I really enjoyed the mussels and calamari in a tomato marinade and I wished at the time that I had taken a larger scoop!
Short history of the Musée du Louvre
This is a very short summation but the Musée du Louvre was originally built in 1200 as a fort by Philippe Auguste. Louis IX added to it. Charles V added more to it and moved in, changing it from a fort to a palace. Francois I added some more to it as did Henri II who moved in. He died accidentally and his widow, Catherine de Medici built the Tuileries. Henri IV, Louis XIII and Louis XIV all added more to the Louvre but then Louis XIV moved himself and the court out to Versailles so building came to a halt at the Louvre. Artists started living (squatting) in the Louvre. The place became a dump. Napoleon I kicked out the squatters and built the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. It is at this time that the Louvre first opened to the public as an art museum. Napoleon III almost completely finished the construction of the Louvre but the Tuileries were burned down during an 1871 uprising. The Tuileries were never rebuilt but the gardens live on today. The famous I.M. Pei glass pyramid was opened to the public in 1989.
My favorite art that we saw
Fragment from the Frieze of the Parthenon
I've had an interest in the Parthenon since I was a freshman at Vanderbilt University. Across the street from the University, in Centennial Park, is a full size replica of the Parthenon and I used to go over there to feed the ducks on the pond in front of it. The majority of the art that was acquired (in other words, stolen) from the Parthenon can be seen at the British Museum in London but here's a small piece to be admired.
Venus de Milo
We were so fortunate to visit Paris during the off season because we were able to spend about 20 minutes admiring Venus de Milo up close and personal with no one else in the room. You really can't appreciate this piece of art unless you walk entirely around it as she looks different from every angle. From the right side, she appears to be walking up a flight of stairs yet from the front, she's merely in repose. From the back, she looks quite uncomfortable and from the left, she's reaching for the sky (even without arms). There's a reason that some art is considered "great" and Venus de Milo certainly is deserving of the title.
Victoire du Samothrace (Winged Victory)
I really liked Winged Victory yet my husband wasn't moved by it at all and called it "manipulative". What I found intriguing was the detail in the dress of the statue. I felt a sense of action and movement viewing her and I could even imagine feeling the wind on my face. My husband said that Winged Victory is no different that a Hallmark card ad that is designed to make the viewer cry and only want to buy Hallmark cards.
da Vinci's Virgin and Child with St. Anne
I'll take this painting any day over the Mona Lisa. While the Mona Lisa was by no means crowded during our visit with about 10 other people looking at her, I found the little painting to be dark. It's set behind bulletproof tinted glass to protect her from the flash bulbs of those who are unable to follow directions (no flash photography is allowed) and from those who might want to steal her. This other work by da Vinci is similar to the Mona Lisa. In fact, St. Anne bears a striking resemblance to her. The main difference is that you can get close to this painting. It's not behind glass and there aren't the crowds. It's much lighter and I like the irony of having the baby Jesus playing with a lamb.
Géricault's The Raft of the Medusa
This painting has a very dark theme: cannibalism and being stranded on the open sea after a shipwreck. It's based on a true story. The Medusa sank and about 20 people managed to survive on a raft before being rescued. There's movement all over this piece between the clouds, the sail on the raft, the desperate, grasping arms of the survivors trying to hail their rescuers and the sea itself.
Napoleon III Apartments
I found these apartments far more interesting than Versailles. They were far less crowded and somehow, more sumptuous with everything decked out in scarlet and gold. The dining room table seats over 40. The sitting room has room for at least that many to sit, some in these ingenious three person chairs which are designed in a triangular shape so that each person has another's back to his side. The crystal candelabras are gigantic with hundreds of candles. The only disappointment was Napoleon III's bed. It's an oversized bed but it's in this gigantic room so it's positively dwarfed by its surroundings.
The Medieval Louvre
You don't have to spend a lot of time here but it's worth the 20 minutes or so it takes to walk through. In the lowest level of the Sully wing, you can wander the medieval Louvre, examining the old moat and keep.
There are many more wonderful pieces of art at the Louvre, far more than I can describe. I just chose a few of my favorites to share with you.
My favorite Musée du Louvre experience
On our last evening in Paris, we went bicycle riding with Mike's Bike Tours. Right as the sun was going down over the horizon, we entered the Cour Carrée where we stopped to listen to a flute duet. The Pyramid was directly behind the flautists, all lit up and it was an amazing experience to listen to them play. Other than us, the place was completely empty. We then rode our bicycles around the Pyramid and under the Arc du Triomphe du Carrousel. If you ever have the opportunity to visit the courtyards after dark, it's simply magical and worth the effort to visit.
Happy travels!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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jdhauer
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