Travel by Photos – The Grand Louvre Museum, Paris

The Grand Louvre Museum (or Musée du Louvre in French) is one of my top 5 travel sites any traveler cannot miss to go on Paris visit. Being considered as the largest museum in the world, the Louvre is located in the 1st Arrondissement (district) of Paris city centre, just next to the Place de la Concorde at either the end or the beginning of Avenue des Champs-Élysées, whatever you call it. You can either start your Paris city tour in the morning from the Louvre then stroll down the Champs-Elysees to the Triumph Arch at the Western end, or, start your journey from the West towards East and visit Louvre at the end of it. It depends where you wish to go next, either the Grande Arch at the West or the Notre Dame at the East. Basically you can’t cover all attractions along the whole Historic Axis of Paris in 1 day. So you have to plan ahead.

Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet). The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre)

Some Useful Information for Visitors

If you are going there first thing in the morning, you can take either Metro to Palais-Royal-Musee du Louvre Station via Line 1 and 7, or buses No.21,24,27,39,48,68,69,72,81 and 95, depends where are you coming from.

Main entrance is at the Pyramid. Other entrances include the Porte des Lions, the Galerie du Carrousel at 99, rue de Rivoli, and the Passage Richelieu (for visitors with valid admission tickets).

Tickets can be purchased on the spot at ticket windows at the Pyramid entrance, though you should expect long queue. Otherwise get advance tickets to skip the queue either online or from local stores such as Carrefour or Virgin. Full ticket price is €9.5 per person per day. Reduced price of €6.00 is applied after 6PM.

The Louvre museum opens daily except Tuesday and certain important holidays, from 9AM to 10PM.

Travel Feeder is not the official site of The Louvre. Detail information can be obtained from The Louvre Official Website

However, if you need the museum internal floor layout to plan for your route inside, you may check out this Louvre Museum Visitor Guide.

If you are going there by walking from Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the first thing you would see which tells you that you are on the right direction is 2 recreational fountain ponds lining in straight line pointing at the main entrance of The Louvre.

After a relatively long walk on sand pavement (yes, you need to walk on a long stretch of sand with your eyes closed when wind blows 🙁 ), you probably need a rest on these chairs around the fountain.

Right after the fountain you will reach the main gate of the museum complex.

The Louvre Museum is a vast complex of wings and 4-storey-pavilions surrounded by River Seine on its right (when you are facing it) and Rue de Rivoli on its left. The outer left wing is Pavilion de Marshan. Black people again (as seen around Eiffel Tower also) are selling souvenirs here and there. 🙁

The outer right wing is Pavilion de Flore, but you are not quite there yet. You still need to walk through these sands…

Congratulation! You are close when you can see this… err.. another Triumph Arch! Try looking back now and you will see the bigger Triumphal Arch in a perfectly straight line!

This is a roundabout of Place du Carrousel, the only street that cutting across the outer and the inner winds of Louvre Museum. From here you can see the most popular scene of the Louvre Museum: The Pyramid, the Napoleon Courtyard enclosed by 3 inner winds of the architecture magnificent Louvre Palace!

A distorted panorama view of the complex. 🙂

Here is where you should press down your camera’s shutter button non-stop and shoot whatever you see!

It is definitely one of the greatest architecture I’ve seen so far. Overcast weather has limited the vibrancy of these photos and I have to tweak them a bit with PS.

A shot at the Pyramid from behind the triangular fountain pond. Can you see the dark clouds? Or the huge crowds? 🙂

But sometimes dark clouds can create special dark force to certain scene. In this case, the glass and steel Pyramid roofing.

Pavilion de Richelieu, the inner left wing of the Louvre Palace complex, as shot from behind the triangular courtyard fountain.

If you are coming from Notre Dame or out from Palais-Royal-Musee du Louvre Metro station, you would need to get into the museum from this entrance along Rue de Rivoli.

A fish eye panoramic view of Rue de Rivoli and the Louvre’s second entrance.

Main entrance is the Pyramid. Queue up patiently, pay the €9.50 entrance fees, take the elevator and you will be at the sub basement level of the museum (this is also the main exit of the museum). Looking up and take some photos please…

From here you are going to start your journey into the world’s greatest history, culture and arts. Plan your trip by using the visitor’s guide provided.

These are part of the collections you can view in the museum.

The famous statue of the Psyche and Cupid; marvelously gorgeous! Another greatness apart from Venus de Milo.

Some of the greatest painting in human history… other than the Mona Lisa.

Below are some of my snapshots inside the museum. Visitors may take photos inside the museum but flash is strictly prohibited!

Click HERE to view high resolution original version of the above photos via Flickr.

What’s my verdict?

• Attractiveness: Excellent   √ √ √ √ √
• Features to explore: Excellent √ √ √ √ √
• Photo Opportunity: Excellent √ √ √ √ √
• Accessability: Excellent √ √ √ √ √
  
• Affordability: Good √ √ √ √

• Overall Travel Score : 96%

• Verdict: Need we say more? Located right in the heart of Paris city, there is no reason why travelers would miss this world’s largest museum. From the architecture outlook to the masterpiece collection inside, there are endless opportunities for travel photography. Even though entrance fees is charged, it is well worth it, by only viewing the original Mona Lisa! The only downside of the Louvre is you need 1 whole day to fully explore all the many masterpieces housed in there. – Travel Feeder, your ultimate travel photo blog