Museum Pass and the Louvre

Hmmm, that is interesting. I have not tried that but yes, it is correct you can only go into each wing once. It also means you'd need to plan your Museum Pass days carefully to avoid having it span a Tuesday.

I wonder how this would work with having to have the Museum Pass # on your timed entry reservation? The folks at the entrance to the lines want to see the time for your reservation and do not check for the Museum Pass.

I already booked my time at the Louvre even though I’m not buying my museum pass until I get there. There was an option for that when I booked.
I’m still not clear on how there are three different entrances. I’ll be there Wed-Monday, so that works well to avoid Tuesday.

Tickets are checked at wing entrances --- the question is whether you can get through the security screen that gets you into the area before the pyramid.

birdieluecke, I'll defer toPam here but I don't think the guidebook meant that you can enter the museum from the outside three individual times. According to the Museum Pass website, you must reserve a time slot for entry, and can only enter through the Pyramide entry point.

https://www.parismuseumpass.fr/t-en/musees_monuments_/musÉe-du-louvre?c=a-paris

Inside, there are three different wings; Richelieu, Denon and Sully. It's interior entry to those three wings that I think the guidebook is referencing. All three would have to be visited on the same day, with a single timed-entry reservation through the Pyramide.

Pam what do you think? The Louvre's own site states on their FAQ "While visiting" page that "any exit is final", and doesn't discriminate between a PMP or a ticket.

https://www.louvre.fr/en/visit/faq/while-visiting

Editing to add: Janet, your thoughts as well?

“Pam what do you think? The Louvre's own site states on their FAQ "While visiting" page that "any exit is final", and doesn't discriminate between a PMP or a ticket.”

Yes, this is correct. In October when visiting the Louvre with a friend, she was using a cane and needed to take the elevator from the bottom of the Pyramid to street level. Before the guard would take us up she made it clear that we could not reenter. We were using the Museum Pass although she did not ask to see it.

But still, they do not scan your Museum Pass when you go thru security. As Janet explains they don’t scan the pass until you enter one of the 3 wings off the Pyramid. They do a visual check to see if you have a timed entry and if you are near to that time.

A possible strategy. You book a reservation WITH museum pass and come another day -- at security they just note the pass they don't scan it. And then you enter another wing

I am still furious that abuses by Chinese tour groups lead to them stopping the unlimited entries on passes and also multiple entries the same day on individual tickets. They were running several groups through on the same tickets. We used to go in the morning -- go out for lunch and a walk and then return late afternoon -- no one wants to spend 7 hours straight at a museum. They COULD fix this easily by giving tour groups identifiable tickets but instead they just ruined it for ordinary travelers.

I wondered why they stopped that! I hate when a few people spoil it for everyone! Your reasoning is the same as mine. I don’t want to stay that many hours all at once. I guess I’ll give it a whirl and let you know how it turns out. Thank you!

Janet...I so agree. I need to get out in the daylight for a bit after 2.5 - 3 hours. Now, I just have to leave after that time.

There are a couple of areas "within" the interior of the museum where you can get a coffee or a bite to eat without having to exit to the Pyramid. I'd forgotten until last Fall when I accidentally stumbled on Le Cafe Mollien which is in the Denon wing and could sit with an espresso for a few minutes. The Angelina Cafe was closed last fall and is still listed as being closed. The other one is way too pricey for what I want in a museum. The others listed on the page are located where you have to exit a wing to access them, so you'd use one of your scans to get back in another wing.

https://www.louvre.fr/en/visit/restaurants-cafes

They also have the food places listed in the Tuileries. I see they no longer have Amorino down by the Orangerie. It was gone last October but I'd hoped it was just because they had some kind of temporary structure over the basin down there. Too bad...they had a bigger variety of flavors than some of the Amorino outlets do.

Let us know if you try this tactic and how it works. I'll probably just get 2 separate timed entries as I'll be there for most of 2 weeks.

I sure will. Thank you for your help!

A few years ago on a rainy day I managed to spend over 5 hours in the Louvre, and my max time in a museum is usually less than 3 hours. I would occasionally stop at the windows and relax my eyes by looking across the square, changing my focal length and getting some natural light. I just sort of happened upon this technique and I was amazed at the difference that it made.
It might be worth trying if you need more time than you can usually manage.

birdieluecke, looking forward to hearing how it goes for you 'cause I'm as upset as Janet and Pam over the change to this once-terrific pass. When we used it before those tour groups abused it, we went back to the Louvre three times during our week in Paris. It's a really vast collection to try and do all at once. I'll agree that there could have been a better way to fix the abuse issue without penalizing everyone else. 🤬

Good luckl Enjoy Paris!

Folks who are real museum junkies might like to explore joining Friends of the Louvre: https://www.amisdulouvre.fr/. It's a bit hard to find the fees for joining. They are here: https://www.amisdulouvre.fr/adherer-renouveler. The basic single membership is 80 euros. I am not a member but plan to join on my next trip to Paris. As I understand it, membership lasts a year (not a calendar year). allows unlimited entry to the Louvre and confers discounts at a lot of other museums, not all of them in Paris. The discounts are not quantified on the Amis du Louvre web site; you'd have to go to the websites of the other museums to find out whether they are worthwhile. For seniors it's always worth checking on whether places have senior discounts; they can affect the financial utility of sightseeing passes.

There are almost no senior discounts in France but there were a couple of photo exhibits in Paris where we got senior admissions. There are food services -- cafes and restaurants within the pyramid. But we like more of a break than that.

I had a professional membership for years and it allowed you to bring a guest on Weds and Friday nights and so when we were in Paris for several months, we would just go on those nights and I could bring my husband.

I may check out the Ami card to see if it has this guest privilege. Apparently the guest privilege is now on Saturday only -- which is less valuable since only once a week.

If you are a teacher or a journalist (including a college professor) with professional ID you can get a very cost effective professional membership -- you can get it for two years at a time -- it was 35 Euro a year when I had it. Alas they don't give it to retired teachers.

We became Friends of the Louvre on our last visit to Paris. It felt a bit extravagant but I am so glad we did it. Admittedly, this was pre-Covid when they still had evening hours. But it wonderful to spread out our visits. You do know have to reserve a timed entry even as members but I wonder if that will eventually change.

Questions regarding Louvre/museum pass (traveling last week of March) : Is is mandatory to have a timed reservation if one has the museum pass? Can a group of 5 show up with pass in hand and get in? If not, how early would the reservation need to be made?

Questions regarding Louvre/museum pass (traveling last week of March) : Is is mandatory to have a timed reservation if one has the museum pass? Can a group of 5 show up with pass in hand and get in? If not, how early would the reservation need to be made?

Even PMP holders need time slots, you need to book in advance, you can't show up. If you're going this March, I'd look to book next week (enter 0000000 as the PMP ##).

Thanks so much! Very helpful! Will get those time slots booked!

As above, info on reserving a slot if using the pass:

https://www.parismuseumpass.fr/t-en/musees_monuments_/musÉe-du-louvre?c=a-paris

Okay - so I tried entering 0000000 and it gives me and "invalid" message. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

use 10 zeros

or use your 10 digit phone number.

Thanks for your help! Sorry to be such a pest, but... I successfully made the reservations for my group of 5 and got confirmation #. However, it did not let me print any tickets (unless i missed something). So is the confirmation showing my 5 museum pass reservations sufficient to get in and I will get tickets once I pass the entry protocol, or must I also have actual tickets before entry? Any help is appreciated since this is my first experience with long distance preregistration.