Paris Museum Pass-- my recent experience.

Very useful information. Just note though. You could have gone in the Carrousel entrance to the Louvre if there was a small line there and it was useful to you. You don't need a ticket at all to enter there -- you don't show your pass (or they redirect you to the pass line upstairs) but you can just go through security and enter that way. Sometimes the pass line at the Pyramid is actually blocks long and you are better off at the Carrousel.

We just returned from Paris and I wholeheartedly agree. We saved quite a bit of time. We were there for 6 days and had a flexible schedule. For instance, we were in Tuileries gardens one day and decided to go to the Orangerie spur of the moment. Just walked in.

You could have gone in the Carrousel entrance to the Louvre if there
was a small line there and it was useful to you.

But the OP said they tried that entrance first and were sent to Pyramid?

"We initially went to the Carrousel entrance, but were redirected to
the pyramid entrance."

And the website for the pass states "Please note: entry using pass by way of the Pyramid."
http://en.parismuseumpass.com/musee-musee-du-louvre-26.htm

I'll agree about the Paris Museum Pass, though. We rarely purchase tourist passes but certainly got the good out of our 6-day'ers Being able to revisit any of the museums it covers was great when it came to breaking up time in the Louvre.

Kathy, the point I am making is that you don't need a ticket to go ;through the security entrance. She showed her pass, presumably to buck the line, and they sent her to the Pyramid. BUT if there had been little or no line there as there often is, she could have simply gone through security there without showing the pass at all. You don't need a ticket to go through security. Entrance to the secured area is not entrance to the museum e.g. there are museum shops, restaurants etc you can use within Louvre security without tickets to the Louvre.

So the OP could have gone through security at the Carrousel and then used the pass when entering wings of the museum. Sometimes the special line at the Pyramid is very long with passholders and ticket holders and using the Carrousel or another entrance is quicker.

Ah, now I get it, Janet. That they thought the OP was trying to buck the security line - which was the ONLY queue - with the pass wasn't clear.

Did you purchase a Museum Pass for your daughter, as well? Or just for yourself? I understand that kids are free at most of these places. But in Rick Steves book it says that at the Arc de Triomph you have to stand in the ticket line if you have a child.

So if I purchase a Museum Pass for myself, I guess I'll still have to stand in line at the Arc de Triomph in order to get my 14 year old daughter in. So no skipping the lines? Is that correct? And if that's correct, would it make sense to purchase a ticket for her (for this one sight) in advance to avoid standing in the line?

Stephanie, there's no reason to purchase a museum pass for a 14 year-old who will be free to enter most of the museums, including the Arc de Triomphe. According to both the Museum Pass and National Monuments websites:

http://www.paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr/en/Prepare-for-your-visit/Practical-information#tarifs

http://en.parismuseumpass.com/musee-arc-de-triomphe-5.htm

As with others of Paris' monuments, no one, either with advance tickets or a museum pass, "skips" security checkpoint queues. Have your child's passport along for proof of age if needed.

At the Arc go to the stair entry and they might help you circumvent the line for the child. I have heard of situations where that occurred; the line is otherwise usually not that big a deal there. they are unlikely to ask for proof of age for a 14 year old but have at least a copy of the passport just in case. While you have to go through security, at most places you use a different security line if you have a ticket or a pass. This is true at the Louvre (although we use the Carrousel entrance because it is usually quicker for security than the pyramid pass line and out of the heat), the Orangerie, the Orsay (where it is a big big time saver), the Pompidou and some others. It is of no use at Ste. Chapelle -- where everyone is in the long security line which is for the court complex where the museum is located -- and at Versailles where the pass gets you nothing but the usual long wait (if you go there get there at 8 for the 9 opening. We were there at 8:40 yesterday (we had Kings apartment Tour tickets and a nice seated waited room until it started.) and the main security line at that point was at least 4 blocks long.

In the end, I highly recommend the pass, we saved so much time by skipping lines.

Any ticket you purchase in advance, on line for example, will allow you to skip lines, it is not necessary to purchase a museum pass if skipping lines is the objective. The museum pass can be useful for those who spend a good amount of time in museums because it can save on admission fees.

When you are using the pass be sure read the fine print for each venue. It will tell you where to find the entrance to skip the line.

Some words about a Palace of Versailles. Palace looks pretty good outside. They have a big parking. I traveled with my family. We arrived early, so there were few tourists. For some reason, I didn't want to go inside. We walked around, took a photo. Behind the palace there was an electric car rental. We took them and rode through the park of the palace, since walking around it for too long. It was not quite warm, but interesting to move in this way.

Tocard makes a good point about pre-bought tickets also saving time, but the advantages of the Museum Pass are the flexibility it offers and the savings for high-energy sightseers like you. Most frequent posters here recommend the pass for these reasons, and your post provides a detailed, recent example of why it can be a good deal. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Nice to know the Paris Museum Pass will save me money and time as well. Sometimes I feel like tourist passes are more expensive and cost more since it provides convenience to tourists.

Just in case anyone drags this old thread up as reference for their trip, there have since been changes to the Museum Pass, the biggest being that it now allows only a single visit to each attraction it covers. There are also current reports of pass holders being turned away at the Louvre during very busy times while visitors with timed-entry tickets are being admitted. It's also of little benefit where very long security queues at Versailles are concerned.

This is sort of a recent development: reference THIS WEBSITE for details on the pass and don't confuse it with the Paris Passlib' pass or Paris Pass.

https://booking.parisinfo.com/il4-offer_i148-paris-museum-pass.aspx

In addition to shorter lines in some cases, I like to have the Museum Pass so that if I come across a smaller museum that I think I might want to check out, I can just pop in where as I might have skipped it entirely if I had had to pay the entry fee.