Losing It at the Louvre

I'll start this post by saying our timing for our Paris trip was not ideal. We were only going to have one evening and one full day in the city, so we planned everything we wanted to do down to the minute. But, as travelers know, plans can go haywire in an instant. We arrived in the afternoon on Bastille Day, which was our first mistake. With over a million people expected to be around the Eiffel Tower that night, traffic was backed up as far as the eye could see. What should have been a 45 minute trip to our hotel from the train station turned into an almost 4 hour ordeal. We were tired and cranky, and sadly that crankiness spilled over into the next day.

When planning your Paris vacation, you're going to hear it all over the place; Get to the Louvre first thing in the morning just to knock it off the itinerary. Even our French Uber driver advised us to do that, but we had pre-purchased our tickets online for the 3:00pm entrance time and couldn't arrive before then. Since the museum closed at 6pm that evening, we knew we were only going to have 3 hours to explore, so we spent about a week researching and mapping out what exhibits we really wanted to see. Of course, you can't go to the Louvre without seeing the Mona Lisa and since the lines for that can be quite long, that was going to be our first stop.

Even with a map handy, it took us 40 minutes to find it, and once I spotted that iconic  painting from the hallway, I was giddy and itching to get in to the exhibit. There are 2 doors in that hallway to enter, and both are blocked off by staff. The first team told us that entrance was closed and sent us down to the other one, who then said they were closed and we had to go back to the first, who then sent us back to the other. It was back and forth several times before I lost my cool with the attendant, who finally told us we had to go around to the back of the exhibit where there was a 3rd entrance. Jason and the girls made it through fine, but I was lagging a bit behind and when I got to the opening they tried to tell me I couldn't go in. I pointed and said "but that's my family right there!" and he said, "Okay" and unlatched the rope so I could pass.

For those who are going to be visiting Mona Lisa, I've marked up this map with the 3 entrances to the exhibit so you won't have to deal with the back and forth frustration we went though. At the first hallway from the exhibit, make a right, then another right and you'll find the 3rd entrance. Hopefully this map will save you from wasting 20 minutes like we did.

Map originally from Join Us In France

There's not a line to stand in at this point, but you'll be squished like sardines with the rest of the museum patrons trying to elbow your way to the front to get an up close peek at Mona Lisa. It's true that it really isn't impressive at all in person, but the girls were thrilled in any case to be so close to this piece of art they've been hearing about all of their lives.

I was still seething over the first hour of trying to get to this point, when Jason asked if I wanted my photo with it, I wasn't having it. I just wanted to go. I grabbed a few more snaps of artwork I did find interesting before trying to hunt down our next stop of The Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The Wedding at Cana

Hercule

Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist

Four Seasons

 

Mona Lisa may not be that impressive in person, but The Winged Victory of Samothrace definitely is! I was mesmerized with this piece and wish I could have spent more time studying it if we weren't feeling rushed.

It was just after 4pm at this point and we still hadn't made it off of our first level, so I stopped and asked one of the guides the quickest way to Venus de Milo. She shrugged and said, "I don't know. The museum is closed." We kind of just looked at each other a little confused after that and I shrugged it off to maybe she didn't understand English well, so off we went to hunt it down on our own. When we arrived, the entrance was roped off, and they were indeed shutting down the museum. I was beyond pissed at this point, so when the attendants went to direct a few guests out of the museum, I slipped past the rope to grab a quick snap.

As we were being ushered out, I took a few more pictures, but the whole experience left a bitter taste in my mouth.

At the exit, it was my husband's turn to lose his cool. He asked why they were closing at 4 when our tickets said closing was at 6. We had only been in the building for an hour and they were kicking us out. "Well, France is in the World Cup. It's a very special day for us, so we are allowed to close early today!" In his not so finest moment, Jason said, "I paid over $100 for us to get in for 3 hours. You only gave me 1. You're stealing from me! I want my money back!" Needless to say, they did not offer a refund lol. Thankfully, we charged the tickets to our credit card, who was more than helpful in refunding our money to us once we got back home and filed a dispute.

So, the lesson I learned and the advice I'll give you with our short trip to The Louvre:

• Go at opening and head straight for The Mona Lisa before the crowds start forming.

• Have a detailed map printed out and highlighted with every entrance to the exhibits you want to see, and make note if there are additional entrances on the opposite side of the exhibit.

• Purchase tickets ahead of time and use your credit card. Do not pay cash at the museum for your entrance fee. The Louvre will not refund you if they decide to close early. However, a good credit card will reimburse you should that happen.

*Little edit with Pat's suggestion. Don't go on or around Bastille Day or when there are any big sporting events scheduled for France. 

Have you been to The Louvre? What do you think is the best exhibit there?