Louvre Museum — 6 minutes from You Rêve

The Louvre Museum is the largest art museum in the world and one of the most visited cultural sites, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. A former royal palace, it has been open to the public since 10 August 1793. The palace covers about 210,600 m² and displays ~35,000 works out of the 615,000 across the collections, in eight departments. The glass pyramid by Ieoh Ming Pei (I.M. Pei), inaugurated in March 1989, is its contemporary landmark. A 6-minute walk from the You Rêve institute, 7 rue d'Argenteuil.

The largest art museum in the world

The Louvre is the largest art museum in the world. The palace covers about 210,600 m² in total and displays around 35,000 works out of the roughly 615,000 held across the full collections, organised in eight departments — Egyptian, Greek and Roman, and Near Eastern Antiquities, Islamic Art, Paintings, Sculptures, Decorative Arts and Prints and Drawings. It is a former royal residence — medieval palace, then Renaissance palace, then the kings' residence up to Louis XIV — and opened to the public as a museum on 10 August 1793, during the Revolution.

The Louvre Pyramid, in the Cour Napoléon, designed by the Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei and inaugurated in March 1989, was much contested at the time. Nearly four decades on, its 673 glass panels are part of the Paris skyline as much as everything around them — more a landmark than a controversy. Six or seven minutes on foot from the institute, it is our neighbour — one we walk through several times a week, sometimes just for the courtyard.

How to walk to the Louvre from 7 rue d'Argenteuil?

From 7 rue d'Argenteuil, six to seven minutes on foot — we join rue Saint-Honoré, follow it south-east, cross Place du Palais-Royal. By metro, several options depending on which entrance you prefer:

• Palais Royal — Musée du Louvre (lines 1 and 7) — exit 6 "Cour Carrée" is often the quietest, and the "Carrousel" exit serves the underground entrance.
• Pyramides (line 14) — convenient if you are aiming for the main entrance through the central pyramid.
• Tuileries (line 1) — if you come from the west, you walk through the gardens before arriving.

Entering the Louvre

The museum has three main entrances, and the right choice depends mostly on when you visit. The central pyramid, in the Cour Napoléon, is the best-known and most photographed entrance — it is also where the queue stretches the longest in high summer and on weekends from May to October.

The passage Richelieu, on the rue de Rivoli side, is the least photographed entrance but often the fastest. It serves the Richelieu wing directly, and lets you cut over to Sully or Denon through the underground passages. This is generally the recommended entrance once you already hold a timed ticket.

The porte des Lions, on the quai François-Mitterrand side, is the most discreet entrance. It primarily serves the department of Arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, and the medieval gallery. Ideal if you are heading for those specific collections, of little use if your target is the Mona Lisa or the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

A few names worth remembering, beyond the masterpieces every guide schedules: the Salle des Cariatides, on the ground floor of the Sully wing, holds antique sculptures beneath statues of women carved by Jean Goujon in the 16th century — one of the most beautiful rooms in the museum, and one of the least frequented in mid-morning.

Our favourite

Practical note: the passage Richelieu entrance from rue de Rivoli is generally faster than the central pyramid, especially in high season — when the queue to see Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the most visited work in the museum, stretches the longest. If you are waiting for someone finishing their visit, Café Marly, under the arcades of the Cour Napoléon, has a terrace that looks directly onto the pyramid — a good place to wait, with a view that is hard to beat.

If you plan to follow the Mona Lisa with a selfie under the Pyramid, know that we are a 6-minute walk away. Many clients drop in before their visit — a 30-minute eye care treatment, just enough time for the queue at the Mona Lisa to shrink, and you leave for photos that hold up.