Visiting the Louvre is like seeing five mega museums in one. You can reach the moon seven times before you can walk the entire length of this magnificent museum! There are separate sections for antiquities, paintings, decorative arts, royal apartments, and, interestingly, a section devoted to the dark history of the Louvre itself. For it was once a Medieval castle with a picturesque moat, and its bulwarks guarded the city and its royal residences. Over time, though the palace outgrew the castle and with that, the latter gradually lost its utilitarian value. This part of Louvre’s history is still being preserved in its womb and to see it you need the guts to walk through the deep bowels of the museum that are only accessed via the gated access to the Sully wing. Undoubtedly, this is the oldest part of the building that still holds some of its past secrets. In its next life, the Louvre became a vast and sprawling palatial residence for the rich kings of France, and this is preserved in the vestiges of the Richelieu wing of the museum, like a time capsule. Then came the Revolution. Today the Louvre is neither. Far from a castle, far from a palace, it is today a museum. Its bulwarks guard the Mona Lisa and its royal residents are inanimate, invaluable artworks. Napoleon’s conquests were so large and many that entire sections of the palace were converted to keep the war booty. Later, some were returned, many were not!
Millions of people come to see these artworks every year, and on the day of your visit you will share the floor with thousands of weary feet. The museum is hard to comprehend, a maze to navigate, a nightmare to book tickets, and these complexities mean you will easily lose your bearings. Despite paying a hefty sum for the tickets you will hardly get a glimpse of your favourite works and a normal visitor will walk the museum for several hours, yet walk out feeling overwhelmed, unhappy, exhausted, disappointed and thoroughly disoriented. To avoid these pitfalls we advise you to meticulously plan your route, do a good deal of homework, and go over your chosen route again and again using our app. That, really is the only way to make sure you finish in time and not miss anything. Make no mistake - you are visiting a very overpriced, overwhelming and overcrowded space. Whilst other people are mulling over another visit, yet another pricey ticket, more inhospitable queues and mazes of corridors to navigate, thanks to the app, you will be done and dusted and on your way to see the next attraction, visit the Eiffel Tower or enjoy a well-deserved meal!
Although you will find lots of people and artworks in the Louvre, what you won’t find are free toilet cubicles or a good internet connection! This is why it's important to have a fully offline audio guide, and with this app that is exactly what we are talking about - audio for over a thousand highlights at your fingertips! Once downloaded, you can use the app anytime, anywhere without internet connectivity. Without meaning to brag, the app provides the best short tours of the museum, which are basically superb itineraries covering its top highlights. Local expert tours may do the same tour for such a short time but they may be pricey or unavailable to book.
In these tours, you will see
- Greek antiquities, Venus de Milo, Victory of Samothrace
- Roman art: Borghese gladiator, Borghese vase, Michelangelo's slaves
- Italian paintings: Mona Lisa by Da Vinci, Wedding feast at Cana by Poussin
- Castle and moat
- French works by Delacroix and Ingres
- Ancient Egyptian sculptures
- Code of Hammurabi
- Napoleon III apartments
- Arts of Africa and Islam
The comprehensive guide puts U in the middle of the Louvre! Get, Set, Go with hundreds of highlights to explore.
And…
What better way to enjoy the Louvre than listening to all the wonderful descriptions as you walk? So, do take your headphones, Bluetooth, or earphones and transform your museum buddy into your personal audio guide!
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