Louvre Museum with Audio Guide

If one intends to spend a few days in Paris and see some of the innumerable attractions, it may be advisable to get the Paris pass. This gives one unlimited access to 60+ top attractions for the designated period (2/3/4/5 days) and enables one to avoid the lines and delay for buying tickets at the venue. Additionally, it enables fast track entry in most, if not all, attractions. It is substantially cheaper than buying entry tickets individually and also includes unlimited use of public transport within central Paris. Most attractions in Paris, specially the museums, have excellent audio guides, which may be free with the Paris pass or for which a small fee may be charged. I have found audio guides more convenient than guided tours; it allows me to explore at my pace. The Louvre is the largest art museum in the world, the most famous and the most popular, with over 10 million visitors annually. And therein lies the rub. When in Paris, a visit to the Louvre is almost mandatory and I have been doing it dutifully during my several visits to Paris. I cannot say I have had one completely satisfactory visit to the Louvre. This is mainly because of the crowds; one has to fight one’s way to the more popular exhibits. The Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world and by far the most popular in the Louvre. Getting to view it needs some doing. There is a great deal to see and enjoy in the Louvre. Perhaps the way to do it is to see it over several visits, with prior planning on what to see in a particular visit.

Louvre Let's first clear a doubt , Louvre is not only the pyramid but the whole surrounding palace , infact the museum is placed in the palace surrounding it. it's world's largest art museum. Lot of sculptures and paintings are there to see including Mona Lisa/ La Jaconde ( I personally felt it's very hyped as we have to get in a 30-45 mins line( on weekend) and then we get to see the paining in a small box, trust me the museum has far beautiful works but unfortunately they are not famous. As compared to the size of Mona Lisa there are half wall length painting also. Paintings of Rubens, Rambrandt, Van ghog , Van Dyck. PLEASE DO TAKE AN AUDIO GUIDE WITHOUT WHICH YOU ARE LOST IN THE MUSEUM. In the sully part in room number 136 the whole model of the palace is kept to show the rooms and various parts of the palace which is a good part to see. To collect the audio guide you need to deposit the id card and it costs 5 euro. The sculptures were breathtaking. Each having a story to tell. The museum houses Egyptian antiquities , Eastern antiquities, Greek , Roman and Islamic art . These are which we could from there holding the tip of the pyramid or holding the pyramid in my hand. TIP: beware of pickpocketers inside the museum and outside the museum.

Pre purchased 2 day museum passes that gave us guaranteed fast track access to the Louvre. Trouble is you have to book an access slot. This wasn't explained to us so we just turned up nice and early. Turned away and made to queue for 15 minutes to get through security. Then queued up again to buy tickets for audioguides. Third queue was to collect the audioguide. When we got the audioguide it was a nintendo 3ds game machine, great if you're 5 to 15 but not much cop if you're not a gamer. Mona Lisa was our desired 1st highlight and we followed the printed map to the area where she was supposed to be. When we arrived there was a sign saying that she'd been moved because of refurbishment. The new location was in an entirely different part of the museum and the only way to get there was through the main concourse. When we arrived at the entrance for the other wing there was a queue that was several hundred deep. This took us about three hours just to get to another queue so we threw the towel in! To cap it all we then had to queue to give back the audioguide which was far too complicated and of little use to us. As much as we wanted to see the Mona Lisa it just wasn't worth the grief. My advice is make do with the prints.