Paris Travel Forum

Hello everyone...This is my first posting, as I am brand new to the Forum. Anyway, the wife and I are going to be in Paris the first week in June and we are trying to plan the details. Anyway, here is my first question....

As I was on a website, about to advance purchase tickets to the Louvre, I noticed the "Free" link. Upon researching and doing a little reading, I noticed that the first Thursday of every month, the Louvre offers free attendance.

Can anyone confirm that the Month of June is included and does anyone have any information about this free day? For instance, is it just a bad idea....meaning that the crowds will be far too many???? Anyway, I would love some details if you can provide.

Thanks, John

You're right there is a free day each month, but the crowds would be gastly I imagine!

Here is my two cents.... get a museum pass. Almost anything you would want to see in the city (museum wise) is included, plus you can avoid a lot of the ticket line ups with the pass. Heck I used mine to zip into D'Orsay to use the washroom when I was in the area. The pass is quite handy and you have options as to how many days it is valid for!

http://www.parismuseumpass.com/en/home.php

Have fun, any questions let me know, or check out my Paris pages for my fav things to do.

Welcome to VT.

The Louvre is not free on Thursday. It is free the first Sunday of every month and on July 14 (Sat. this year because it's Bastille Day). You can get all the info you need at http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en

This is the Louvre web site in English. The Paris Museum Pass is fine if you plan to visit a lot of museums. You can avoid the lines by going in through the Metro entrance instead of through the Glass Pyramid above ground. The long lines are for security, not tickets. Once inside, there are many ticket lines and seldom more than a minute or two wait.

It's always a good idea to check the official web site of places you want to visit since ticket sellers on other web sites do not always have their facts correct. Type the name of the museum into your search window and then look for a small British flag to get the site in English.

The Louvre is also free to anyone up to (and not including) the age of 26 on Friday evenings from 6:00 PM until 9:45 PM. Don't know if this applies to you or not.

Alternatively, type Paris into the VT Search Window above and this will take you to the Virtual Tourist Paris Travel Page. There are VT member Tips and this will include many links to favorite sites and you just click instead of having to do a search. Most of these will be in English.

You may also click on the name of anyone who answers your question here and that will take you to their VT Home Page. You can then check their VT Travel Pages for Paris to get photos, reviews and tips. It's lots of fun to look at all the pictures and you get great ideas of things to visit.

Have fun!

Ok....I hope everyone will have a hearty laugh at me......

Here is the information where I found the part about the Louvre being open (free) on the first Thursday.....


Free Days
A surcharge does apply for special exhibitions.
First Thursdays
The Permanent Collection Galleries are FREE on the first Thursday of every month. The special exhibition Roman Art from the Louvre is discounted to:


The problem here is.....this is a Seattle Museum, displaying works from the Louvre!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Thanks for the heads up!!!!!

John

It's the first Sunday of each month and my advice is that you should avoid it - the queues (for security) are horrendous and the crowds are even worse. It's hard at the best of times to see the Mona Lisa and next to impossible during the free day. Of course, the Louvre has other works of art worth seeing apart from the ML but everyone seems to make a beeline for this. The other galleries also become extremely crowded. Do yourself a favour and pay to do on another day.

Thanks Beausoleil for correcting my "half info" about the museum pass. I just assumed the lines were for tickets or admittance not security.

Although, you don't need to visit a lot of museums to make that pass worth it. A two day pass is only 30 euro, and if you visit say the Louvre, D'Orsay and Pompidou it would cost 29 euro, why not toss in Rodin and Sainte Chapelle for free?!

Hey as an aside, have the ticket prices for the Pompidou always been that pricey?? 12 euro to the 8/9 euro of the Louvre etc. Crazy!

Yes, the MNAM at Beaubourg is dear (its Geneva equivalent, the MAMCO only costs €5 to get in -nowhere near as prestigious I hasten to add), it was not always so, before the massive renovation work at Beaubourg (that lasted 2 1/2 years between 97 and 2000), it was much cheaper relatively speaking but was not as impressive and extensive as it is now (I think it now ranks as the most prestigious MoMA in Europe and one of the largest in the world).
They're opening an annex in Metz next year or the year after (they only exhibit 2 or 3% of their total collection at Beaubourg, somethign like 1,500 works of art are displayed, out of the 60,000 they possess).

The municipal museums of the Ville de Paris (16 of them) are all free, that includes the underrated Musée d'Art Moderne located in th East wing of the Palais de Tokyo (and the Bourdelle museum as well, a great place -not to mention the Carnavalet, free as well)

Ummmm okay, I feel like a bit of an arse!

I totally had to google "MNAM at Beaubourg."

I was thinking Beaubourg.... BEAUBOURG?!?! I though we were talking about Paris! hee hee hee

I can't believe I didn't know that. Is Beaubourg an area in Paris like the Marais or Latin Quarter?

I'm not sure where the name comes from but on my map of Paris the Centre Pompidou has Beaubourg in parentheses underneath the name. I have heard it called Beaubourg for years and never questioned it. Good question. I hope someone answers you here.

Parisians call it Beaubourg, tourists Pompidou Centre. Beaubourg is the name of the long street that runs behind the centre -rue Beaubourg- and by extension, in parisian parlance, the name routinely given to the Beaubourg neighbourhood. Some facetious titis (native parisians) call it Notre-Dame de la Tuyauterie (Our Lady of the Pipework)

http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:yWXDWmVdCjUJ:www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/article-imprim.php3%3Fid_article%3D9301+Beaubourg+is+the+name+of&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=uk

Oh... my... goodness that made me laugh Our Lady of the Pipework!!


Thanks ExParisian, I adore this museum. Although I loathe that I have been a perfect tourist for years calling it the Pompidou. Can't wait to try out my local lingo.