Multiple days at the Louvre

You might consider joining the friends of the Louvre because it might be cheaper than buying all those individual tickets and I think you can go without a reservation if your a friend.

As you know, your daughter enters for free. You might want to consider getting yourself a membership to the Les Amis du Louvre because it will give you unlimited, instant entry. That way you can explore the Louvre in blocks, interspersing with other activities. For example, as a member I took my granddaughter for two hours a day: day 1 Egypt, day2 Greek sculpture, Day 3 Rome. You could divide your Thursday and Friday into blocks and include the evening hours. I do suggest that you do 2 hours at a time interspersed with other activities: visit to Galeries Lafayette rooftop, tour of the Garnier Opera House, walk through the Tuileries, go to the Arch of Triumph etc
The Amis membership is 85€. You can join while still in the US. You use the Richelieu entrance, fast-track line, and don’t need reservations. Don’t join the American Friends of the Louvre. It’s for a wealthy crowd and over 10 times the price. Bonne visite.

Thank you! If I am a friend of the Louvre, does my daughter automatically get to walk in with me, without reservations for either of us? I am aware that she does not have admission charge, yes. I love the idea of multiple shorter visits. After a few hours in an art museum my eyes stop focusing even if I am having a good time!

https://www.amisdulouvre.fr/adhesion?t=1

I think this is the link I want to use? 80 euros? That sounds good, I just want to confirm that daughter can walk in with me.

Correct. She just walks in with you. Even my husband who had a reservation for an exhibit walked in with me last month rather than waiting at the Pyramid. You go to the Richelieu entrance with your daughter, say Bonjour to the guard, show your card, follow their instructions to the members line that cuts you in front of the tour groups, say merci, and go through security. Just like a queen.
Only one time, during fall vacation in late October a year ago, the members/groups/students line was so long after my lunch break that I just left. So, if you want to stay in the Louvre for a lunch break, there is a sit down restaurant in the atrium within security among other choices.

It's worth mentioning that the Louvre membership also confers discounts at quite a number of other museums in Paris, the region, elsewhere in France and even some in other countries. This is the list of Parisian museums offering discounts: https://www.amisdulouvre.fr/partenaires/musees-partenaires. You have to go to the individual museums' websites to see the sizes of the discounts, which I have not done. It appears you can't click through from the Amis du Louvre website.

Great practical advice above. I just wanted to express my enthusiasm of your plan for multiple days of Louvre touring for those highly interested.

I did something similar with one of my young adult kids a few years back. Said "kid" was slightly older than yours, college undergraduate. Very interested in seeing "every room in the Louvre". We were able to manage this over a week's worth of time, and it is still a highlight of our traveling day memories.

As far as getting tired - you may, but that is fine. You could use the online map to plan the itinerary making sure all must-sees are highlighted, take breaks for coffee, mix up genre - or do a chronological walk through - whatever approach seems to fit your personalities and interests, allow yourself extra time in rooms with artists and periods that "speak" to you and less time in those areas where you feel less affinity. Having a week as we did alleviated some of the tiredness, but I'm sure you will find ways to keep two days interesting and new.

Good to see the question! I have been contemplating something similar for myself for next year's return to Paris. I'm enjoying the discussion.

If you are a teacher you can get a Louvre membership for professionals for a great discount and it allows a guest on evening openings. we did this for years. As long as you have academic ID as a teacher at any level you can get the card; there is an office in the corridor leading from the Carousel entrance.

Since i am retired I cannot longer get that membership. We will be getting 'Friends of the Louvre' cards this spring for our spring and fall trips. We love dropping in for a couple of hours to see one section of the Louvre rather than doing marathon visits.

If you're big art lovers, please also visit the Musée d'Orsay. In my opinion it's a better museum than the Louvre. Both can be a bit overwhelming.

This is such a good plan! And yes to taking breaks. Sit down, have a coffee and a sweet and keep going.

Here is a link to the museum map as well as a link to the list of days when certain galleries are closed.

https://www.louvre.fr/en/visit/map-entrances-directions#museum-map

The Louvre website is wonderful. By going to the section on Exploring Collections your daughter can figure out where her target pieces are located.

https://collections.louvre.fr/en/

For instance...my favorite piece is a vase owned by Alienor d'Aquitaine which she gave to her first husband (who became King Louis VII) on the occasion of their marriage in 1137.

https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010096614

It tells you it's location - Salle = Room, Aile = Wing, Niveau = Floor

The Louvre website also lists the food options that are available within the secure area.

Indeed, discounts. With membership, the bookstore, gift shop, restaurants and food vendors give 5% off. This discount is recognized in any national museum gift shop, such as the Cluny, Orsay, Modern Art in the Pompidou.

One poster prefers the Musée d'Orsay. It's difficult to compare because the Louvre has collections from early antiquity to sometime in the late 19th Century. The Orsay picks up from the second half of the 19th C to 1906, the beginning of Cubism. Art from 1906 to today is the the Musée d'Art Modern in the Pompidou Center. There can be a tiny bit of overlap around the fringes due to private donations with certain stipulations, but generally, this is how the National Art Museums are divided. Is one better? To me, they are all amazing.

Finally, the education cards Janet mentions are no longer as freely given as they were when we were teachers. Hélas. Those were the good old days. LOL ;--) Today, you have to have a project with your students, so it's geared to teachers in the national education system.

Thank you all, so very much!

We are visiting D'Orsay with our tour one day, I would be up for going on our own on a pre-tour day, too. I am very interested in the Egyptian areas of the Louvre, among others. There is so much that we want to see. I just bought a canvas print of the Madonna of the Rabbit, which is at the Louvre and of course we need to find it.
I do love the idea of just switching area if we're not focusing well in one or have seen enough of a certain genre.

pbscd,
Does your tour include the Cluny Museum? It took my 7th trip to Paris to get there. It is a treasure house of medieval art. We were able to walk right up and get tickets. It wasn't crowded at all. This was on a Tuesday or Wednesday at the end of May. I do hope you get to go there, whether on the tour or on your own. And it does have a few more places to sit and appreciate the collections than other museums. (Good for80-year-old me!) It is a jewel box of artworks!

The Egyptian portion of the Louvre is down low, and quite extensive. Very impressive. I can easily see spending multiple days in this museum. I find it difficult to spend more than 5-6 hours without stopping for food and water, but the Louvre does allow in and out for this.

As recommended, spend time at the d'Orsay, especially if you have any interest in the periods from 1790-1840. I think their collection is better than that at the Louvre. On entry go immediately to the top floor and work your way down.

Yes, I have nothing else to do but roam the Louvre collections website, lolol!!

https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010062261

ah bummer about the professional memberships once available to journalists and teachers of any stripe. We had annual membership for 35 Euro a year for many years and spent countless hours in the Louvre.

The Louvre is a hard museum to visit but I don't agree the Orsay is better. It certainly is better if your goal is impressionist art with its fine collection. Both offer something quite different.

The idea is lovely on paper, but the Louvre is an exhausting place to visit. I highly doubt you'll want to go back a second---unless you're that into art. I've taken many friends to the Louvre who thought they were interested in art and after about an hour they were ready to go.

I am a member of the Louvre, but I also live in Paris 2-3 times a year. But when I go, I get in and see what I want to see - and get out. Sometimes there will be a magically less busy day.

I like the idea of two (full or not) days at the Louvre. I find that yes, it can be overwhelming, but mostly the parts that are overwhelming for me are (i) at the entrance, once you're inside the pyramid, and (ii) anywhere within four or five rooms of the Mona Lisa (though the main corridor outside the Mona Lisa room has many paintings that sometimes people don't realize are so so worth spending more time with than the Mona Lisa. I find most of the rest of the Louvre to be much less frenetic. For example, I love the rooms with the Dutch masters, and they tend to be quiet (don't miss their Bosch and Vermeers). Your daughter may really enjoy picking out a couple of paintings that speak to her, then seeking them out once she's there. Enjoy!

Yes, we plan on visiting the Cluny museum on Sunday before the tour starts. I love Medieval history and really want to see the tapestries.
My daughter spent 20 minutes studying/looking at the Birth of Venus this April, and not quite that long a Spring in the room next door, Our visit to the Uffizi gallery was one of our highlights from our Italy trip. We definitely like art more than the average people. We've studied 3 to 4 artists a year every year and so many of the prints are in the Louvre or the National Gallery in London, it will be a huge dream come true to visit and see these works in person.

Yes, we love Vermeer! I don't want to miss the Dutch area.