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This is the main entrance to the Louvre.
There’s always a long line in front of it. Sometimes it’s two hours long.
And this is actually just the line for the security checkpoint.
There are more lines inside.
These tourists don’t realize that there are other entrances to the Louvre.
And all of them are less crowded than this entrance.
Let me show you a different entrance …
This is the entrance to the Carrousel du Louvre, at 99, rue de Rivoli, north side of the Louvre.
It’s an underground shopping center beneath the Louvre.
In addition to shops, it has a food court … and its own entrance to the Louvre.
You can buy Louvre tickets with no waiting at these machines, paying with plastic.
(Unfortunately, they were removed after this video was made, apparently for good.)
These are the stores. A rather eclectic mix, with a fair amount of turnover.
Some tenants, like Nature & Découvertes, have been here for many years.
Others seem to change every six months or so.
I’ll show you the entrance to the Louvre, under the inverted pyramid, in a minute.
There are also auditoriums where yearly fashion shows are held (not seen here).
This is the food court. Unfortunately, it’s not what it used to be.
After the Apple Store moved into the mall, the food court was rebuilt.
The size was cut in half, and all the independent restaurants were forced out.
Post-Apple, all the restaurants belong to Autogrill, an Italian roadside-diner conglomerate.
And the prices have tripled. And the only restroom in the dining area was eliminated.
The food is so-so. I can no longer recommend it as I did for the old food court.
Still, after an exhausting day at the Louvre, it’s way better than nothing.
The one bright spot is that a McDonalds was added. It keeps a very low profile.
This is the inverted pyramid, the one Tom Hanks looked at in search of the keystone.
There’s the Apple Store, the one that halved the size of the food court.
The dark hall in the background is the mall from which we came.
And this other dark hall is the mall entrance to the Louvre Museum.
Then there’s a Mariage Frères tea room, and a *** Megastore.
There’s something spooky about this big, 180-ton pyramid and its pointy tip.
This is the security line for people without tickets, but it usually moves fast.
For people who bought tickets at the machines, like us, there’s no waiting.
After the security checkpoint, more mall. It’s a bit dark.
There’s a Starbucks before security, and another one after, and both are busy.
Lots of other stores, too, but we have no time to go shopping right now!
That’s the main lobby of the Louvre up ahead.
There are a restaurant and café (both expensive) beneath the main pyramid.
The Louvre’s own bookstore has a selection of very well-made art reproductions.
There’s the corridor from which we just came.
Escalators to the street-level pyramid, the main entrance we saw at the beginning.
The entrance to the south wing of the museum way in the background.
Lines for tickets (for those who don’t have them already).
The entrance to the east wing of the museum.
More ticket lines.
The entrance to the north wing of the museum.
A cool spiral staircase to street level.
The palace at street level is visible through the pyramid.
The staircase is used as an exit, oddly enough, but that’s typically French.
This very cool open elevator in the center is for disabled people only.
There are also escalators, which go up or down depending on traffic requirements.
Here’s a view of the pyramid we saw at the start of the video, from the inside.
This is one of the lines for the ticket windows, for those who don’t have tickets.
And this is a line for ticket machines, which accept both plastic and cash.
This is the entrance to the north (Richelieu) wing of the museum.
And this is the entrance to the east (Sully) wing.
This entrance is to the south (Denon) wing. It’s always the busiest.
That’s because the south wing contains the Mona Lisa, which everyone visits.
A souvenir stand at the entrance, in case you need a souvenir RIGHT NOW.
This is the south wing as seen through one of the tiny pyramids at street level.
And the Denon entrance is right beneath it.
And here, finally, is the entrance to the museum itself, with a ticket check.
After that, you walk through this semi-spooky corridor.
Photography is okay, but you can’t use flash.
Yup, looks like we’re going the right way.
There used to be escalators here, but they were removed.
It turns out escalators are a safety hazard in extremely heavy traffic.
This is roughly street level.
Just a quick glance at this room. No time to linger, though!
We can just follow the prevailing current.
Tons of art on either side, but nobody has the time or inclination to look.
Another big staircase. That’s the Winged Victory up there. We’ll see it again later.
A quick look back at the room we just left. Prior to 1993, it was the main lobby.
We’ve climbed the stairs to the Winged Victory, then turned to the right into this hall.
In summertime, the heat and humidity inside the Louvre are oppressive.
There’s a little bit of A/C starting in this room, though it’s woefully inadequate.
Everyone files next into the Grand Gallery, seen at the start of The Da Vinci Code.
This painting, by Leonardo da Vinci, is moderately famous.
Places to rest in the Louvre are scarce, and always well occupied.
Now, right around this corner on the right is what we’ve come to see.
Ah yes, there it is, way back behind the crowd. See it?
Say hello to the world’s most famous work of art.
Six million people stand here each year. More than the entire population of Finland.
The room is filled with priceless paintings of equal artistic merit.
But people rarely even glance at anything else.
The Mona Lisa is what counts … the Louvre’s golden goose.
Many people mistake this big painting for The Last Supper by da Vinci.
But it’s not—it’s The Wedding at Cana, by Paolo Veronese.
Mrs. Lisa del Giocondo …
… and her six million fans, and their cameras.
Most people are surprised by how small the painting is.
Time to move on, now, to the second greatest hit of the Louvre.
And on the way we pass a few French painters.
Jean Ingres was the Olan Mills of his age. A great portrait artist.
I think the Rivière family got the special family package.
I like his work.
The Coronation of Napoléon, by Jacques-Louis David. Many people recognize it.
The Winged Victory again (Nike, the goddess of victory), seen from the balcony.
And another souvenir stand, seen from 15 feet away.
We go back down to street level to see the other greatest hit.
Many rooms in the Louvre have very ornate ceilings, but almost no one looks at them.
Now we are very, very close to the Venus de Milo.
So close I can almost taste it (eeuwww!). Or maybe that’s just sweat. No A/C here.
Sorry about the blinding backlight from outside.
This is a Greek statue of Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
Like the Mona Lisa, it’s famous simply because it’s famous.
Everyone sees the Mona Lisa, but many visitors don’t bother with the Venus de Milo.
So that’s about it for the greatest hits. But let me show you something else.
This is how the rest of the museum looks, once you leave the tourist trail.
Quite a difference, eh? A few steps off the beaten path, and everything changes.
These dishes look like something the Franklin Mint would sell in a magazine.
I didn’t pick anything specifically, I just wanted you to see how quiet it is.
But incidentally, this is the department of decorative arts, second floor, Richelieu wing.
See 250,000 works of art for just €10 … can you beat that?
It’s paradise if you love art. Otherwise it’s a bit much. But such a deal!
Once you’re away from the tourists, you can view everything at your leisure.
Even I know what the “N” stands for.
I have randomly wandered towards Napoléon III’s apartments.
Not a cross-section of the Louvre, but it shows the contrast in traffic.
You could spend weeks in the Louvre, but I’m not sure if anyone actually does.
Napoléon III’s dining room. He must have held some awfully big parties.
Fans of sculpture are not disappointed. And this area is air-conditioned, too!
Many statues of nude people draped in bedsheets.
Can you tell that I’m not much of an art historian?
Anyway, time to head towards the exit.
Back to the crowds again. It’s late and there are as many leaving as arriving.
Crowd control for the escalators, so people don’t get squished.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this quick tour.
Thank you for watching my video.