Paris Museum Pass

Christina, here is the link to the 'official' museum pass info: http://en.parismuseumpass.com/ It looks like there are several places to get them other than the museums, several tobacco shops, I believe that in Ricks book it says thye are fairly widely available.
We are going in September and we will be buying as well. They are sold at the airport too but all I care about at the airport is getting euros and finding the bus stop.

Sometimes the less frequented venues run out. They are also sold at the Tourist Information kiosks. There is one at the airport, there is one in the plaza opposite Notre Dame, there are lots of places to buy them. Don't stress.

I just returned from Paris a few weeks ago and I purchased my Pass before I left the airport. No lines and had it in my pocket and ready to go. What a time saver. I got the four day one and started using it the next day and how nice it was to just walk in the lines for pass holders. Not sure all those people in the long lines buying tickets didn't know about the pass? It was worth every penny.

What museums does it cover and how much? Also, if for example it covers The Louvre will I have to wait in line or may I purchase in advance? Thanks!

FWIW we bought at The Pompidou Center. I think all of the large venues have them as well as the TIs. We finished our 2-days today. We got to skip ticket lines at the Pompidou, the Louvre, the Orsay, and the Orangerie (only ones we got to). Worth it in my opinion.

Jennifer, You may purchase the museum pass in advance. For a list of sales outlets and for a list of all the museums and monuments covered by the pass, go to the official museum pass site.

we bought it this past april and would do it agian. passing the lines was one advantage, but aso if you happen to walk by a museum it covers you can just go in and check it out instead of waiting in line and paying the admission :):)

Thanks for the link...it seems easier to buy once I get there since they don't ship it prior to your arrival. I also see that the Eiffel Tower is not included which is a bit disappointing but not a deal breaker. I might purchase it just so I can go to the Louvre two separate times otherwise I'd have to buy two fees I think.

Thanks for the link...it seems easier to buy once I get there since they don't ship it prior to your arrival. I also see that the Eiffel Tower is not included which is a bit disappointing but not a deal breaker. I might purchase it just so I can go to the Louvre two separate times otherwise I'd have to buy two fees I think.

We were just in Paris this weekend. Got the museum pass at the train station Info center the night before we wanted to use it. We got to the Louvre at 8:45 (opens at 9:00) Sat morning. We were about 20th in line to get in the side door, while there were easily 200 people in line for the main entrance already. We made our way to the Mona Lisa within 15 minutes (we have kids, so didn't move as fast as some) and there were only 10 people there. That paid for itself right there. Also walked right in to the Rodin Museum while about 30 people were in line. One note: at Les Invalides, you still need to get a 'free pass' card at the ticket desk for kids. You can't just walk in with the museum pass with kids like most other places, that was an extremely painful half hour of waiting in line to get a ticket that said the kids were free. Eiffel's Tower is NOT covered in the museum pass.

I wanted to concur. We were just in Paris in April. The Pass was an exceptional value and made getting in to several places very easy. Walking right by several sizeable lines made us feel like we were really well informed travelers! We bought it at the Arc de Triomphe with no problem. It does not cover the Eiffel Tower but does cover Versailes. (although the gardens were 7E to enter) On a side note about French NOT being rude I want to pass along a brief story... We bought the 4 day Museum Pass at the Arc de Triomphe and had not filled it out yet or even taken them out of the plastic by the time we came up the stairs from the underpass and stepped up to the ticket taker. The nice French gentleman looked at our unopened passes, noticed they were 4 day passes, and asked how much longer we were in Paris. We told him 6 more days. At which point he handed our unopened passes back to us, ushered us into the entrance to the Arc stairway and wished us a pleasant rest of our visit to Paris.
Right then we were converts to French friendliness.

How hard is it to find this "side entrance" to the Louvre?

The "side" entrance is easy to find. We were just walking around and found it by accident. It is in the Passage Richelieu... which is the arched passageway connecting the Rue de Rivoli (the street that passes the Louvre along the North side) and the main "Pyramid" square. If you are facing the main Pyramid entrance, Passage Richelieu is just to the left. The Passage Richelieu is one of only 2 arched pedestrian only passages exiting the "Pyramid" square. The other one is in the back of the square.

There are/were/used-to-be several side entrances. The Richelieu is for groups and maybe passes and advance tickets. Further east on Rivoli there's another one, but it's now probably for employees only. On the river side, there's one at Porte de Lions, but I'm not sure what it's used for anymore - - I think it's a general entrance. The one that's probably easiest and less crowded than the pyramid is the carousel entrance down some steps west of the pyramid. It goes through an underground mall that isn't of much interest. I usually try to save a day time visit for folks for a day when it's raining - - this way keeps you dry.