新澳门开奖结果

Best Things to do Around the Louvre

Updated by vanessa M in July 2023.

A visit to the Louvre has become standard practice for just about every traveler to Paris. The Louvre is the largest museum in the world, with a history that dates back to the 1100s.

Situated in the 1st arrondissement, the Louvre is the heart of Paris. There are many things to do in and around the museum worth an hour or two of your time 鈥� read on!

Walk the Tuileries Gardens

The Louvre shares a vast piece of land with the Tuileries Gardens. These manicured grounds date back to the 17th century, and they are littered with ponds, statues and curated pathways.

The Tuileries are a hotspot in the summer when Parisians like to soak up the sun but have no beach on which to do so. You鈥檒l find sunbathing and picnicking a plenty in this park.

Tuileries Gardens – by Dinkum –

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday 鈥� 7am to 9pm

ADDRESS: Place de la Concorde, 75001 Paris, France

Metro STATION: Concorde

Visit the Orangerie Museum

In addition to beautiful landscaping, the Tuileries holds a musuem of its own.

The Orangerie is nowhere as big as the Louvre, but it鈥檚 an important house for historic artworks; most famously, the home to 8 of Monet鈥檚 Water Lilies.

If you鈥檙e a Monet, Matisse or Picasso lover, then you鈥檒l very much enjoy this intimate museum buried in the Tuileries. As far as museums in Paris go, entry into the Orangerie is one of the lowest in the city at under 鈧�10 per person.

Orangerie Museum – by Paris 16 –

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Opening Hours: Wednesday to Monday 鈥� 9am to 6pm

ADDRESS: Jardin Tuileries, 75001 Paris, France

Metro STATION: Concorde

See the Place de la Concorde

The Place de la Concorde is one of Paris鈥� most important public squares. If anything political happens in the city, this is where the people go.

Throughout the year there will always be events and activities taking place in the square. Most famously, the Place de la Concorde holds the big ferris wheel during the winter months.

In the center of the Place de la Concorde sits the Luxor Obelisk; an ancient Egyptian granite obelisk inscribed with ornate etchings.

Place de la Concorde – by Tangopaso –

Explore les Halles

Les Halles is the district just outside of the Louvre Museum. It鈥檚 a great part of town for one to get their first 鈥渢aste of Paris鈥� in, as the architecture is mostly original Haussmann and the streets are lined with traditional French bistros.

What really brings people to les Halles, is the shopping. This neighborhood is home to the Rue de Rivoli, a famous retail strip offering high fashion and international brands. Those in the market for furniture can explore the Maisons du Monde; a grand furniture warehouse in which most people lose their entire day.

Les Halles – by Pavel Krok –

Watch a Show at La Com茅die Fran莽aise

The Louvre district has some impressive history. From museums to theatre houses, this is very much an arts driven neighborhood.

La Com茅die Fran莽aise is one of the last few state theaters in all of France. It was founded back in 1680, making it the oldest still active theatre company on the planet.

La Com茅die Fran莽aise – by Jebulon –

It is also the only state theatre in France to have a permanent troupe of actors who work on and appear in all shows in the space.

I highly recommend a visit for anyone who appreciates the theatrical arts and would like to experience them while in Paris. Tickets are easy to book online or at the box-office on the day of the show.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Opening Hours: Daily

ADDRESS: 1 Place Colette, 75001 Paris, France

Metro STATION: Palais Royal Mus茅e du Louvre

Visit the Orsay Museum

As I said, this is an art driven district, and even crossing over the Seine won鈥檛 get you away from it.

As you cross the Pont Royal bridge from the Louvre onto the Left Bank, you鈥檒l come to find the Orsay Museum right there against the water.

Orsay Museum – by Benh –

DESIGN YOUR PRIVATE PARIS TOUR NOW 聽 禄

This museum mainly showcases works from between 1848 to 1914. Most of the works were made by French artists and have been careful preserved over the decades. Come and see the works of Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and more.

The real kicker is the building in which the museum is found. The Orsay Museum is housed inside and old railway station, that resembles something out of a children鈥檚 fantasy novel. It鈥檚 an incredible space to walk through, particularly the grand foyer.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Opening Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 鈥� 9:30am to 6pm

ADDRESS: 1 Rue de la L茅gion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris, France

Metro STATION: Rue du Bac

Walk Down the Seine

The Louvre Museum sits on the edge of the Seine on the city鈥檚 Right Bank.

This section of the water is always immaculate, thanks to the 1st arrondissement being the tourist attraction that it is. It鈥檚 fit for a stroll no matter the season.

Head west, and you鈥檒l eventually come to the 8th arrondissement and the Eiffel Tower. Head east, and the Seine will take you directly into le Marais, another trendy and vibrant neighborhood worth exploring in Paris.

Seine – by Dennis Jarvis –

Have Lunch in the Louvre District

The 鈥淧arisian experience鈥� is something people travel to the city to encounter. They want to eat, drink, talk, walk like Parisian locals, and get up close & personal with the culture of the French capital.

The 1st arrondissement is an important facilitator to these experiences. The bistros that surround the Louvre aim to give travelers the most authentic Parisian dining experience possible, and lunch/dinner in this area is something worth investing in.

The 1st arrondissement is never cheap; you鈥檒l pay a pretty price to eat the escargots, frog legs and steak tartare 鈥� but it鈥檚 worth it.

Paris – by Hermann Luyken –

Take a Free Guided Walking Tour

The best way to see all that surrounds the Louvre is to explore the district on foot.

If you鈥檙e not one for self-guiding, there are daily free guided walking tours through the 1st arrondissement that will show you everything that this district has to offer. Pre-booking is necessary as these tours regularly sell out.

The Louvre: A Cultural and Historical Landmark

Louvre, in full Louvre Museum or French Mus茅e du Louvre, official name Great Louvre or French Grand Louvre, is a French national museum and art gallery situated in part of a vast palace in Paris erected on the right-bank site of Philip Augustus’ 12th-century stronghold.

It is the world’s most visited art museum containing works ranging from ancient civilizations through the mid-nineteenth century. The French revolutionary government opened the Louvre as a public museum in Paris after more than two centuries as a royal palace.

, , via Wikimedia Commons

The Louvre’s collection is now one of the world’s richest, with artwork and artifacts spanning 11,000 years of human civilization and culture. King Francis I began construction on the Louvre palace in 1546 on the site of a 12th-century castle erected by King Philip II.

Francis was an avid art collector, and the Louvre was destined to be his royal abode. The work, overseen by architect Pierre Lescot, continued after Francis’ death and into the reigns of Henry II and Charles IX. Almost every following French monarch expanded the Louvre and its surroundings, with substantial extensions made in the 17th century by Louis XIII and Louis XIV.

Both of these kings also considerably enlarged the crown’s art holdings, and Louis XIV purchased Charles I of England’s art collection after his execution during the English Civil War. Louis XIV died in 1682. Many people in France began to advocate for the public display of royal treasures in the spirit of the Enlightenment.

Denis Diderot, a French writer, and philosopher, was among the first to suggest a public national art museum. Although King Louis XV temporarily displayed a selection of paintings in the Luxembourg Palace in 1750, it was not until the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 that serious progress toward establishing a permanent museum was accomplished.

, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On August 10, 1793, the revolutionary government inaugurated the Mus茅e Central des Arts in the Louvre’s Grande Galerie. The Louvre collection grew fast as the French army seized art and archaeological artifacts from conquered territories and nations during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Although much of the looted art was returned following Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, the Louvre’s existing Egyptian antiquities collections and other departments owe much to Napoleon’s conquests. In the nineteenth century, two further wings were constructed, and the multi-building Louvre complex was finished in 1857, during Napoleon III’s rule.

The Grand Louvre, as the museum is formally known, underwent substantial renovations in the 1980s and 1990s. Modern museum amenities were added, as well as thousands of square meters of new exhibition space. In the center of the Napoleon courtyard, the Chinese American architect I.M. Pei constructed a steel-and-glass pyramid.

, , via Wikimedia Commons

It was deemed an outrage by traditionalists. On the museum’s 200th anniversary in 1993, a refurbished wing previously used by the French Ministry of Finance was opened to the public. It was the first time the entire Louvre had been dedicated to museum purposes.