Louvre Closed for Coronavirus Concerns

The Louvre is closed again today, Monday March 2.

Please note that this is a bit different than one might assume on first glance — the authorities have not closed the Louvre due to concerns about Covid-19; employees have basically gone on strike to close the museum because they say the government hasn’t done enough to protect them from the disease.

Given the repeated strikes of Louvre staff over the last few months and resultant closures, I leave it to the reader to draw a conclusion whether this may be an opportunistic action by employees.

However, the authorities have shut down events of over 5,000 people. How many people from all over the world troop through the Louvre everyday? At a minimum, shouldn't those who greet that many visitors be supplied with hand sanitizers? Le droit de retrait recognizes an employee's right to NOT work in a dangerous situation.

75020 I agree with you!

One of the places I particularly wanted to go to was the Louvre, now it is closed what is RS doing to accommodate those who may wish to canccel but it is past the cancellation date?

what is RS doing to accommodate those who may wish to canccel but it is past the cancellation date?

fyi https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/coronavirus-faq

Too bad there is nothing else worth seeing/doing in Paris. (Yes, that’s sarcasm.) Coronavirus notwithstanding, overtoutism has increasingly caused issues at popular sights that draw big crowds. Rather than be dismayed over a closure, I am going to approach it as a good opportunity to visit Paris with a different perspective. Even if the Louvre is open during my trip in May, I’m leaning toward skipping it for one of the lesser-known museums. Or maybe I’ll get lost in a quaint neighborhood and find a chic cafe to sit and people watch.

https://apnews.com/f30f813a9d5e46c7b6a3de8b85b855cb

https://www.traveller.com.au/suffocating-louvre-closes-from-overtourism-here-is-where-to-go-instead-h1ew7k

It is now reopened. It was the Louvre staff that basically refused to work until they obtained the reassurances they wished. The fact that visitors, some of them coming from the other side of the world for a once in a lifetime opportunity, waited hours in the rain for nothing was not a concern apparently.

And indeed as mentioned previously there are plenty of nice smaller museums in Paris anyway!

Glad they got the direction’s attention and obtained the safety measures. Since people do come from all over the world, you never know what disease they are harboring. I wouldn’t want their jobs.
Glad they reopened; we’re on our way over there to see the Soulages exhibit.

So glad it will work for you to go!

I am on their side. They need to be protected.

Thanks Kim.

No line at the Pyramid this evening, so got straight in . Other entrances were closed. There were crowd control ropes around some guards to keep the public 6 feet from the guards. A few Asian tourists wore paper masks. Many French people of all ages came to see the Pierre Soulages exhibit.

There were no large tour groups from any country, but tourists were still lined up shoulder to shoulder to get a few seconds each with the Mona Lisa. We avoided that area of the room.

As of today, in an effort to respond to workers’ concerns while keeping the museum open, they were only letting people in who already had a timed reservation (or if, I suppose, you have a membership in Àmis du Louvre). I.e. no walk-up visitors permitted to enter.

I don’t know if this will be their policy going forward during the situation, but something to watch out for.

And now the government has closed it in line with its new measure day proscribing all gatherings of 100 people or more.