I always buy Rick's guidebooks as they are exceedingly thorough and imbued with Rick's great sense of humor and interesting asides. So this criticism is only to help other Rick Steve's fans and consumers of his great products. I downloaded Rick's Louvre and d'Orsay iPhone guides before going Paris without doing much investigation. When I got to these museums I found that the iPhone guides contained so little depth, I really couldn't use them. I rented the guides that are made available (for a fee) at the museums. These were great, especially the multi-media guide at the Louvre. You can use standard iPod headphones on the Louvre multi-media guide, but the d'Orsay guide used a mini-jack, so our headphone wouldn't work. I would recommend bringing a splitter and share the guide with a loved one! But you will need an adapter for the mini-jack.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
2745 posts
I got the Orsay guide when they were giving it away and have played with it some. While it's proably not going to make an Art History major's "top ten" it's got more content and info then I remembere from his audio tour I used a few visits ago.
Posted by
Buffalo, NY, USA
27 posts
I don't have an iPhone, but I'd assume his Louvre and Orsay tours are basically the same content as his MP3 audio tours.
If that is the case, then no, I agree, for a serious Art enthusiast or someone who wants to really really dive into everything those museums have to offer, then Rick's guides are not for you. In that case, a guidebook from the museum giftshop or a museum audioguide is probably best, as it will cover more topics.
Rick's audioguides are not meant to provide a 5 hour visit to the Louve. They're meant to be an entertaining way to see the major works in an hour or two.
That being said, I found his Louvre and orsay a bit lacking in depth, but that's ok because I'm not a huge art person anyone, so it was a very entertaining trip to these galleries for me.
I did find his guide to the Colosseum and Roman Forum phenomenal though. Funny, engaging, and full of good information.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15585 posts
I have to admit that I too was disappointed with Rick's Orsay and Louvre audio guides, as being sketchy and without any depth. I was looking forward to them after his Venice and Florence guides, which were excellent.
I rented audio guides in Paris at the Marmottan, the Orangerie and the Cluny, and enjoyed them all.