Posted on 06/16/2025 10:19:05 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
PARIS (AP) — The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and a global symbol of art, beauty and endurance, has withstood war, terror, and pandemic — but on Monday, it was brought to a halt by its own striking staff, who say the institution is crumbling under the weight of mass tourism.
It was an almost unthinkable sight: the home to works by Leonardo da Vinci and millennia of civilization’s greatest treasures — paralyzed by the very people tasked with welcoming the world to its galleries.
Thousands of stranded and confused visitors, tickets in hand, were corralled into unmoving lines by I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid.
“It’s the Mona Lisa moan out here,” said Kevin Ward, 62, from Milwaukee. “Thousands of people waiting, no communication, no explanation. I guess even she needs a day off.”
The Louvre has become a symbol of tourism pushed to its limits. As hotspots from Venice to the Acropolis race to curb crowds, the world’s most iconic museum, visited by millions, is hitting a breaking point of its own.
Just a day earlier, coordinated anti-tourism protests swept across southern Europe. Thousands rallied in Mallorca, Venice, Lisbon and beyond, denouncing an economic model they say displaces locals and erodes city life. In Barcelona, activists sprayed tourists with water pistols — a theatrical bid to “cool down” runaway tourism.
The Louvre’s spontaneous strike erupted during a routine internal meeting, as gallery attendants, ticket agents and security personnel refused to take up their posts in protest over unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing and what one union called “untenable” working conditions.
It’s rare for the Louvre to close its doors. It has happened during war, during the pandemic, and in a handful of strikes — including spontaneous walkouts over overcrowding in 2019 and safety fears in 2013. But seldom has it happened so suddenly, without...
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
If I were to visit the Louvre, I’d go and see the Code of Hammurabi and a few other things there and basically skip the Mona Lisa.
All artwork displayed in Museums should be reproductions. They can look perfect these days. Store the originals in a vault.
Count Scarlioni had six of them. Nothing special.
Dr. Who - City Of Death.
That’s nothing. I drove all the way across the country to go to Wally World and it was closed for the day.
Who the hell would pay to see reproductions? I can do a virtual tour of the Louvre, but why? Absurd.
I chaperoned 100 teens to London during a Transport Strike so we had no buses and were stuck in the Hotel.
The moose out front should’ve told you
The government pays for operating costs (salaries, safety and maintenance), while the rest - new wings, refurbishments, acquisitions - is up to the museum to finance. A further €3 million to €5 million a year is raised by the Louvre from exhibitions that it curates for other museums…
The areas around the Louvre and Eiffel Tower are infested with eastern European pickpockets. Not safe at all.
Old Buddy Hackett line from Vegas, “My luck was running so bad that I took a day off to visit the Grand Canyon. Wouldn’t you know it? It was closed.”
I’ve heard its unremarkable in that you think its this large painting but its fairly small. I would still see it to see the master’s work. In the process of reading a biography about Da Vinci and he’s a fascinating individual.
The Venus de Milo, OTOH, is easy to see.
Don’t go to Museums then. Look at photos on the net. Displaying artwork is too dangerous now.
My wife and I actually did have the Wally World experience when we tried to visit the Louvre. We were on a European cruise, so only had one day in Paris, and as luck would have it the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, the very day we were there. At least we bought some amazing chocolate at Maison du Chocolat in the mall underneath the Louvre.
I saw the Mona Lisa as a school kid; it’s very beautiful, but it’s a lot smaller than you expect and when I saw it (on tour in DC) it was hard to get close enough to really appreciate it. I don’t know if that’s the same in the Louvre, but I think there are lots more fascinating things to see there.
When I was working on a cruise ship, in 2005, I visited the Hermitage in St Petersburg two times. There, you could see original Rembrandts and Picassos hung on walls six feet away from open windows.
Clark Griswold, is that you?
With idiots trying vandalize or to ‘glue’ themselves to priceless works of art, I’ve often thought the same thing.
Very cool. I wonder if they are still displayed that way.
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