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Another Paris Museum Pass question

Posted by (Wisconsin) on

We are going to be in Paris for 4 days/nights. On Day #4, we’ll be on an all-day Fat Tires Bike tour to Giverny. Therefore we got 2-day Paris Museum Passes instead of 4-day. I know that gives us 48 hours of use from the time the pass is activated with our first entry. The third day of our visit is a Friday, and the Louvre is open until 9:45 that evening. I reserved a 5:30 entry. This means we can use our passes for things after 5:30 p.m. on our first day in Paris, all day on our second day, and all day on our 3rd day until they expire after our entry into the Louvre.

The Rodin Museum is open until 6:30, with final entry at 5:45. I couldn't fit the Rodin into my plans for the second or third days of our Paris visit, but thought we might use our passes to go in at final entry on our first day, for a brief 45 minute stroll through the museum.

When we get to the Louvre on Day #3, for our 5:30 reservation, I assume we’ll have to wait in an entry line despite having a reserved entry slot. If it’s after 5:45 by the time we get to the front of that line, will we be denied entry because the pass expired? Or will we be allowed to go in because our reserved entry time was when the pass was still valid and we’ve been in the line? If the former is a risk, how many minutes in advance of our reserved entry time would you suggest we get there?

Posted by
8551 posts

don't know from experience about this question but I know how the Louvre works having been there many times. At the Louvre your pass will be scanned for entry into each wing; you are not scanned for entrance at the security entrance point. I would assume that the pass will not scan as valid after it's expiration. I don't see why the reservation would matter. There is no ticket scan as you enter the museum through security, the ticket scan is at the wing. So even if you arrive before 5:45 and are let through security, you are going to find it expired when it is actually at the point of being scanned.

I would go early and use the Carousel entrance where in my experience the line is short and only ticket holders are allowed through security and try to get to the wing you are most interested in before your pass expires.

Posted by
14731 posts

I agree with Janet on the timing being critical at the point you enter the museum wings not when you get to the security scanners (which is where any line/back up will be) although I've never dealt with cutting it this close.

When they first changed the timing on the Museum Passes in 2019, I did enter my first museum at Noon on day 1 and was easily able to enter the Orsay at 930 on day 7. With the Orsay, your pass is scanned after you pass thru security but it's not nearly as far from the security scanners to the entrance scanners - a matter of 50 feet or so, whereas the Louvre is much bigger and is more involved to get thru the scanners at either entrance and then get up the escalator to the wing entrances. I'd want to get there an hour before you pass expires.

Posted by
466 posts

Thank you for the helpful insight! I've decided we shouldn't activate our passes on our first evening, as there's too much of a risk it will jeopardize our reserved visit to the Louvre two days later. I appreciate the helpful comments on how the lines work at the Louvre (e.g., no scan of the passes at security, there's a checkpoint at the entry door of each wing, where passes are scanned). Paris Museum Passes allow one entry per site. I have read on this forum that each wing of the Louvre is treated as a separate site, i.e., we don't have to pick which wing we want to enter. We need our passes to remain valid during the entire time we are at the Louvre so we can move to a different wing if we wish. I'm glad I asked the question!

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