The Louvre

Opening Hours
Open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Tuesday and the following holidays: January 1st, May 1st, November 11 and December 25, 2008. The permanent collection and temporary exhibitions will close at 5 p.m. on December 24 and 31, 2008 (Wednesday). The museum is open until 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday evenings except on Friday, August 15, 2008 (open until 6 p.m.).

Admission Price
Admission to the Louvre is free on the first Sunday of every month. Otherwise:
* Full day access (also valid for the Musée Eugène Delacroix but not temporary exhibitions in the Hall Napoleon) €9
* Evening Access from 6 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday (except Hall Napoleon temporary exhibitions) €6
* Combined Ticket (access to permanent and all temporary collections in The Louvre and Musee Eugene Delacriox) €13
* Evening Combined Ticket (access to permanent and temporary collections from 6 p.m. to 9.45 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday evenings) €11

How to Get There
Address: 99, rue de Rivoli
Metro: Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre
RER:Bus: 21, 24, 27, 39, 48, 68, 69, 72, 81, 95, and the Paris Open Tour bus.

Photography Policy
Strict no photography policy exists throughout most of the museum. No restrictions in the exterior courtyards.

Old and new. Centuries separate the Pyramide and The Louvre

What’s great about The Louvre? Almost everything! It’s the world’s biggest palace, it’s home to some of the really great art treasures such as the Mona Lisa and the Venus Di Milo and it’s soaked in five centuries of architecture. And I haven’t even mentioned the photographic possibilities. If only they’d let photographers take available light images in the galleries, it would be perfect! But more on that later.

Let’s first of all focus on the great points. On our last trip to Paris in February, the walk from our Hotel Henri IV Rive Gauche base to The Louvre was a sheer delight. A 100-yard stroll took us to the Seine and then we ambled along the quays until we reached the Pont Des Arts footbridge, pausing for a few minutes to take in the grand façade of the Institut de France. This magnificent building is at one end of the Pont Des Arts and The Louvre is at the other. Where else in the world can you find two fantastic buildings facing each other in such a beautiful setting? I love Paris!

Our walk across the bridge took us to the south end of The Louvre to the Jardin de L’Infante. From there we entered under the Pavillon des Arts into Cour (courtyard) Carree, a lovely square which seemed full of groups of art students and their lecturers.

The best spot for people shots
The main Cour Napoleon was just a short distance away. This is the best place at The Louvre for outdoor photography. It’s usually thronged with people of all nationalities, shapes and sizes at just about any time of year although it tends to get quieter later in the evening. The great thing about the Cour Napoleon is that everywhere you look, there’s a stunning backdrop. It’s easy to get trigger happy photographing people against this “scenery”, either just sampling the atmosphere or taking a break from the tiring but worthwhile tour of the museum’s never-ending corridors and galleries.

This is a great spot for sitting down with a long lens or tele zoom on your camera and just picking off interesting individuals framed in arched doorways. Or perhaps in semi-silhouette against the foamy whiteness of the fountains, reflected in one of the seven, water-filled basins or in the controversial glass Louvre Pyramide which is now the main entrance to the museum.

The pyramid! You’ll either love it or hate it. Some think its design is an affront to the splendour of the palace. Others love the juxtaposition of old and new. Count me in the latter camp. From a photographer’s point of view, it’s something to be savored and enjoyed. Imagine if a more traditional entrance had been built: it would have cut in half the photographic possibilities – and that’s just from the outside. Enter the pyramid and more picture opportunities present themselves. What a sight it is looking up at five centuries of classical architecture through the glass and steel sides of this modern structure!

Slow shutter speed for blur
The spiral staircase that takes visitors down to the start of the museum tour is worth spending some time getting to know. Standing on the upper floor looking down on the staircase, there are so many possibilities for cropping a picture that it’s difficult to know which is the best. Make use of the handrail on the entrance level overlooking the stairs as a support for your camera and shoot people coming and going with a shutter speed of around a fifth to a quarter of a second to catch their blurred outlines.

From the lower level and with a short tele lens, you can capture people on the floor above surrounded by some nice patterns in the pyramid walls. This is also a good area from which to show the contrast in the different architectural styles, shooting through the glass at the more formal lines of the palace.

Photography inside the museum is strictly prohibited and security personnel will brusquely point this out to you before the camera is even half-way to your eye. I think the reason for the ban is to preserve the artworks, an entirely praiseworthy aim. The theory seems to be that blips of light from flashguns might add up over time and have an effect on the paintings. But when you think that a flash lasts for only a few thousandths of a second, it would take that number of photographs to add up to one second of daylight.

I can’t see the problem with non-flash photography although I can well understand the confusion that would arise if the museum staff had to explain the difference to tourists. I took a few pics while no one was looking – no flash obviously – to show what the inside of the building is like but it’s not something I’d recommend. No amount of mumping and moaning will change that situation, though, so let’s concentrate on the many other great photographic possibilities around The Louvre.

I could have spent an entire day there and not come close to exhausting them all.The Jardin des Tuileries, a garden named after the old tile kilns that once occupied the site, have preoccupied photographers for decades. They lie to the west of Cour Napoleon and you pass them on the way to the Place de la Concorde.

The great Hungarian photographer Andre Kertesz was one of the first to see the potential in the simple chairs that are scattered around the garden. If you notice someone pointing a camera in the direction of a spindly-looking chair, it’s a safe bet he/she is well-versed in the work of Kertesz, Doisneau or Cartier-Bresson. I’ve yet to see a really striking colour photograph of them, though: black and white is definitely de rigeur!

Copyright © 2008 Paris Travelogue

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