Tips and Tricks in Getting Inside the Louvre Museum Faster, No Long Queues Needed!

Louvre Museum is not not simple. It is a museum so huge in value, in sze, in contents and in queue to get in! If one does not know how to get through quicker, a big part of the day would be really wasted only in waiting in queue to enter or purchase the ticket! In fact,one day is already so insufficient in exploring the Louvre museum and if one wastes more time queing, then that's just worse! Entering the Louvre Museum in Paris or the musée du Louvre in Parigi, or in Parijs can bereally annoyingif you take the major entrance passing the pyramid. We were very lucky to have discovered a hassle-free, faster way and quicker means of entering the Louvre museum in Paris. How? Never pass the main entrance which passes by the pyramid. Then how? Enter through other entrances! Palais-Royal–Musée du Louvre station is one of the means to enter without problem. From there, people can walk directly to the reception and buy tickets from ticket vending machines just nearby the Louvre museum information / reception desks. Below is a series of photos to guide you to enter the Louvre museum more conveniently and at the same time,explains what possibly may happen to you if you do not discover this trick: wasting time and suffering from heat/cold awaiting your turn to enter in thelong queue.

As you see, there are various ways. In our case, we entered through the Metro station: no lines, no hassle, just plain comfort and ease. We did not do what the people in the photo below did. Can you imagine how long they waited? This photo was actually when we were leaving, which means almost the end of the day and yet, they were still waiting there in long queue!

Here's yours truly buying our tickets at ease and with fun! No queues behind me so I was really having fun and just purchased my ticket in a relaxed manner. Look at the flags as well, possibly ypu speak at least one of the available languages that the Louvre museum ticket-vending machines offer

There is a very approachable information desk and if it looks too full, there are always official information guides that walks around and more than willing to help.

Gare Du Nord Paris Automatic Locker Service (Consignes Automatiques)

Look for this sign to arrive at the luggage lockers

 We arrived in Paris early in themorning while the usual check-in timefor the hotel is at least from noontime. In fact, the Hotel we took has a check-in time that starts at 14:00 or 2:00 PM. We had however some luggage with us and at the same time, we did not want to waste 7 hours just by waiting for the chec-in. What we did was to look for a locker service in major train stations in Paris. We went to Gare du Nord just to be sure. Moving around the city was not a problem for us since we have Paris Visite Pass that enables us to move around the city without hassles and without additional fees.

Directly down this elevator, around 2 meters to the right are the lockers. 
As you see, it's near the car rental too, "Location  de Voitures".

At the Gare du Nord, the lockers "Consigne et Service" was not easy to be found. The label was not always present, we still had to look for it. It was at the further right wing of the building (to your left when you enter from the main entrance) if I remember good. Otherwise, just look forthe sign as this service surely exists at the Gare du Nord Paris.

The service cocts Eur 7,00 for a amaximum of 48 hours usage for small lockers and for bigger lockers, I don't remeber good whether it's Eur 9 something or Eur 11 for a 48 hours usage. We used the small locker for our stuff good for 5 days for 2 persons.

Tips
1. Be ready with cash because the machine does not return the change.
2. Remove all metallic items from your body before entering to avoid detectors (we were not admitted in until we were cleared)
3. We had to look for a place to change the money as we did not have cash, no possibility of changing cash inside, at least during the time we were there.
4. Lockers with "HORS SERVICE" indications are out of service, don't use it.

If you are interested to have a detailed view of the Gare du Nord Paris station, see this very helpful forum page on Gare du Nord from "Any Port in a Storm": CLICK HERE to see "Any Port in a Storm" discussion on Gare du Nord.

Below are somephoto aids in the locker area itself:

Paris Visit Pass, the Most Dynamic Means Around Paris for (Especially for) Tourists

How many days are you staying in Paris? One convenient way to move around Paris is with the use of the Paris Visite Pass. Paris Visite is a travel card pass enabling users to access andmake use of all the public transport services. Personally, I find Paris Visite Pass one of the best ways to get around Paris and its region! It depends however on each one's inclination and plan. A ticket's single use cost around Eur 1,70, while a "carnet" of ten tickets is around Eur 12, so if you have to only go back and forth, Paris Visite Pass is not a smart choice. However, if you would like to move anywhere in the area freely, this pass is really good. The Paris Visite pass consists of a travelcard and its ticket. It provides unlimited rides (naturally within its validity period) on the transport system of the Île-de-France region: Metro, RER (express regional trains), bus, tramway, suburban Transilien SNCF trains, funiculaire de Montmartre, Montmartrobus, Noctambus, Optile bus system,within a given fare zone (from 1-3, 1-6). It is good from the first day of use (not from the date of purchase) until the last consecutive day. You may purchase the Paris Visite Pass in advance and save time avoiding last minute lines and this can be bought in Metro stations (ours we had it from the service booth) but I assume the ticket vending machines have this too.


WHERE ELSE ONE CAN BUY PARIS VISITE?
Paris Visite Pass can be purchased in all Paris Metro, RER, Transilien SNCF stations, bus terminal ticket counters, RATP Boutiques, RATP sales desks at Orly and CDG airports and Paris tourist offices. One can also buy the pass in certain travel agencies and tour operators abroad.

Rates in euros for the Paris Visite Pass

ADVANTAGES?

1. Convenient for travelers

2. Prices are in package, the more days, the cheaper per day

3. Dynamic, can be used in many ways, trams, metro, RER, etc.

4. Practical and saves time: no need to buy individual ticket everytime

DISADVANTAGES?

1. If the user plans to travel once or twice in one of the days, it's a lost day (you spent more than necessary)

2. In case of loss, you lost the entire amount you spent!

3. It counts the day, not the number of hours (1 day is 24 hours)

4. Mine expires at 10PM (not midnight) and I was blocked in the Metro for this!  Of course you can always complain to the service desk if they are still open.

Below is the specimen of my Paris Visite Pass from Paris

Basically, the card contains the necessary information about the Paris Visite Pass and its usage in five (5) different languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish and German. Isn't it very smart idea to have all these langauges? In fact, you can also write your name in one of the folds of the card of Paris Visite Pass. One part of the fold contains a mini-pocket where the more valuable part of the Paris Visite Pass can be inserted: the magnetic tape pass itself.

Below is the mini pocket-like fold of the Paris Visite Pass where the user of the PVP can insert the magnetic tape pass. I found it very useful because the card is thicker, bigger (easier to find inside one's purse or bag) and it also contains the information that's useful in case I forget in five different languages. It is very good for safe-keeping purposes also. The place holds the pass securely. 

The reverse side of the pass with the magnetic tape.This is what users use to enable the station doors to open.