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| Louvre Museum queue |
Well October was not convenient but I have cherished for a while the idea of walking round museum free after church in November. So today, the 1st of November, at about 11:30 I set off for the train station into town. There is a short walk to take along the river but it was a sunny day and the walk was pleasant. I arrived at the Louvre at about 12:30.
There was a long queue. It snaked along the convoluted rope barrier and exited in my direction. I walked a few paces passed a sign that said 1:30hr and joined the queue.
I thought about that sign. I had a time I wanted to be back. In my planning I had reasoned that with free entry there would be little queuing since there would be no reason to stop people and make them pay. Clearly the popularity of free entry caused its own limitations. My visit was reasonable with the assumption of no queue, I thought to have 2 hours to walk round. Not enough for a real visit I'm told, but as it's free worth doing anyway.
But with 1:30hr to wait, the plan became less sensible. Half an hour is just too short. I left the queue and went to see what the sign at the start of the rope barrier announced; for next time perhaps.
"Exceptional for Nov 1st, a charge for the visit will be made"
It was in 3 languages.
There was no explanation as to why. This is the season when the government collects housing tax, residence tax (which is different), and social tax. So they should not be short of money, but I could think of no other reason. Even with all these taxes they must be broke.
Terry
Envoyé de mon iPhone
As a post-script, I saw more of the Mona Lisa on the banks of the Seine as I walked home (early as it happens) than I would have in the museum. And here is a picture I snapped of a French boat - spot the moustache on the back. It was a more interesting than the "Bridget Bardot" that passed just in front of this one. You can see it in the distance, a square uninteresting thing. I much prefer the humour of this one.
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| Spot the moustache on the back |
