Louvre, With No Crowds, Gets Rare Chance To Refurbish

PARIS (AP) — The 518-year-old Mona Lisa has seen many things in her life on a wall, but rarely this: Almost four months with no Louvre visitors.

As she stares out through bulletproof glass into the silent Salle des Etats, in what was once the world’s most-visited museum, her celebrated smile could almost denote relief. A bit further on, the white marble Venus de Milo is for once free of her girdle of picture-snapping visitors.

It’s uncertain when the Paris museum will reopen, after being closed on Oct. 30 in line with the French government’s virus containment measures. But those lucky enough to get in benefit from a rare private look at collections covering 9,000 years of human history -- with plenty of space to breathe.

That’s normally sorely lacking in a museum that’s blighted by its own success: Before the pandemic, staff walked out complaining they couldn’t handle the overcrowding, with up to 30,000-40,000 visitors a day.

The forced closure has also granted museum officials a golden opportunity to carry out long-overdue refurbishments that were simply not possible with nearly 10 million visitors a year.

Unlike the first lockdown, which brought all Louvre activities to a halt, the second has seen some 250 of the museum employees remain fully operational.

An army of curators, restorers and workers are cleaning sculptures, reordering artifacts, checking inventories, reorganizing entrances and conducting restorations, including in the Egyptian Wing and the Grande Galerie, the museum’s largest hall that is being fully renovated.

“We’re taking advantage of the museum’s closure to carry out a number of major works, speed up maintenance operations and start repair works that are difficult to schedule when the museum is operating normally,” Laurent le Guedart, the Louvre’s Architectural Heritage and Gardens Director told AP from inside the Grande Galerie.

As le Guedart spoke, restorers were standing atop scaffolds taking scientific probes of the walls in preparation for a planned restoration, travelling back to the 18th century through layer after layer of paint.

Around the corner the sound of carpenters taking up floorboards was faintly audible. They were putting in the cables for a new security system.

Previously, these jobs could only be done on a Tuesday, the Louvre’s only closed day in the week. Now hammers are tapping, machines drilling and brushes scrubbing to a full week schedule, slowed down only slightly by social distancing measures.

In total, ten large-scale projects that were on hold since last March are under way — and progressing fast.

This includes works in the Etruscan and Italian Halls, and the gilded Salon Carre. A major restoration of the ancient Egyptian tomb chapel of Akhethotep from 2400BC is also underway.

“When the museum reopens, everything will be perfect for its visitors — this Sleeping Beauty will have had the time to powder her nose,” said Elisabeth Antoine-Konig, Artifacts Department Curator. “Visitors will be happy to see again these now well-lit rooms with polished floors and remodeled display cases.”

Initially, only visitors with pre-booked reservations will be granted entry in line with virus safety precautions.

Those who cannot wait are still able to see the Louvre’s treasure trove of art in virtual tours online.
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Adamson reported from Leeds, England

“Mona Lisa” Back At Work, Visitors Limited As Louvre Reopens

PARIS (AP) — The “Mona Lisa” is back in business.

Paris’ Louvre Museum, which houses the world’s most famous portrait, reopened Monday after a four-month coronavirus lockdown and without its usual huge throngs.

The reopening of the world’s most-visited museum was a bright spot in what is otherwise shaping up as a grimly quiet start to the summer tourist season in France, with far fewer visitors than was normal before the pandemic closed borders.

Paris tour guide Katia Besnard Rousseau said she has had no groups to show around since France gradually started coming out of its strict two-month lockdown in May. On Monday, as the Louvre reopened, she and dozens of other guides demonstrated outside, forming a long line and holding up images of the “Mona Lisa” to highlight the hardship afflicting their industry.

“My whole season collapsed. There is no one around. It’s very dramatic,” said Besnard Rousseau. “To live in Paris and not be able to guide is horribly frustrating. I really miss it.”

Inside the museum, face masks were a must and visitor numbers were limited, with reservations required. Among the trickle of returning tourists was Zino Vandenbeaghen, who traveled from Belgium to enjoy the unusual space at both the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles.

“It’s super,” he said. “The ideal moment to visit.”

About 70% of the giant museum — 45,000 square meters (484,000 square feet) of space, or the equivalent of 230 tennis courts — housing 30,000 of the Louvre’s vast trove of works is again accessible to visitors starved of art in lockdown.

“It’s very emotional for all the teams that have prepared this reopening,” said Jean-Luc Martinez, the museum director.

The bulk of the Louvre’s visitors before the pandemic used to come from overseas, led by travelers from the United States.

Americans are still barred from the European Union that is gradually reopening its borders. The Louvre is hoping to instead attract visitors from closer to home, including the Paris region, but is bracing for a plunge in numbers.

Martinez said the museum was expecting just 7,000 visitors on reopening day.

Before the pandemic, as many as 50,000 people per day toured the Louvre in the busiest summer months.

The Rodin Museum in Paris, which is dedicated to the works of sculptor Auguste Rodin, is also steeling itself for a glaring plunge in typical visitor traffic when it reopens on Tuesday. The museum usually attracted 2,500 people per day - again led by Americans - during the summer months and is preparing to see a drop of as much as 80%.

The Rodin also expected o make a profit this year of 1.4 million euros ($1.6 million) but is now forecasting a loss of 3 million euros because of the pandemic’s impact on visitor numbers and other sources of revenue. It hopes to make up some of the shortfall by selling limited-edition versions in bronze of some Rodin works.

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Leicester contributed from Le Pecq, France

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Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

The Most Popular Museums In The World

MUSEUMS bring to mind hushed, reverential rooms—though not to anyone who has competed to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa. Room six at the Louvre can feel more like a popular concert, as crowds, mobile phones aloft, jostle to take snaps. The Louvre is the world's most-visited museum; last year more than 9m people paid €12 ($16) to squeeze a peek at La Gioconda's stifled smile. Most of the top museums are free (as is the Met in New York; the $25 it asks for is only a suggested donation). At the Louvre, visits fell slightly from a year earlier. Attendance is growing at the National Museum of China—at the current rate, according to some, it might surpass the Louvre next year as the world’s most-visited museum. The Themed Entertainment Association, which compiled the museum data, also tracks theme parks. The most popular attraction was the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida, which received 18.6m visitors, double the Louvre’s figures. In all, 133m tourists visited a Disney theme park in 2013, suggesting that people prefer Mickey to Michelangelo

Source: www.economist.com/

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Five Reasons To visit Northern France

France’s refreshing Nord-Pas-de-Calais has been overlooked by travelers for too long. The region has embraced the jokes about chilly weather and yokel locals while quietly transforming into a world-class destination with a daring arts scene, clutch of historic sights and irresistibly rugged charm. Here are five experiences not to miss in northern France this year.

Catch the buzz in revamped Lens

The Louvre gallery in Lens (www.louvrelens.fr) first faced the wave of scepticism, as art lovers pondered the news that France’s most famous gallery was setting up an outpost in Lens, a depressed former mining town. Then came controversy when a vandal defaced the Louvre-Lens’ piece de resistance, Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People. More recently there have been fears that the ‘Guggenheim effect’ - the extraordinary renaissance of Bilbao credited to the world-famous gallery  - would never materialise in Lens.

The mirrored exterior of the Louvre-Lens gallery. Image by  準建築人手札網站 Forgemind ArchiMedia / CC BY 2.0.

But the genre-busting Louvre-Lens deserves attention. All polished aluminium and glass, the gallery's futuristic air is a delicious contrast to northern France's rustic red palette. Its ambitious Galerie du Temps aligns thousands of years of art in a single room. And while there’s been no sudden makeover for sleepy Lens, sceptics will be pleasantly surprised. Food lovers will have reason to linger after the gallery doors close: seafood at rustic Au Bouchot (lebouchotlens.extra-flash.com) is exceptional, and slick Le Cesarine (20 av Alfred Maës) serves up some of the best local food in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The area’s natural sights are also starting to make their mark. ‘Europe’s highest slag heaps’ is a boast that might make you choke on your Flemish ale, but more travelers are starting to explore the Lens plains, scarred and shaped by the region’s mining history. Mentioning Lens still triggers a twitch in Parisians’ elegantly tweezed eyebrows, but there’s no question this town is on the rise.

The small-town charm 0f Bergues in northern France. Image by John Miller / Robert Harding World Imagery / Getty Images.

Commemorate World War I’s centenary

War monuments and cemeteries in northern France, such as Dunkirk’s battlefields, attract a steady stream of visitors paying tribute. But the start of World War I’s centenary this year means a host of commemorative events taking place across Europe. Flanders, which encompasses the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, its surrounds and part of Belgium will experience a rich calendar of special exhibitions, floral tributes, parades and lectures this year (check out a full rundown on www.greatwar.co.uk/events/somme-events).

But whether or not you’re timing your travels for a particular event, there are plenty of ways to immerse yourself in the Great War’s history. Explore the Carrière Wellington, a network of underground war tunnels in Arras (www.arras.fr/tourisme; French only). Pay a visit to the region’s war cemeteries, such as the world’s largest French war cemetery and a stately ossuary at Notre-Dame de Lorette (www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/en/notre-dame-de-lorette), and the vast Étaples Military Cemetery (www.cwgc.org). Or hire a car to roam the Circuit of Remembrance, a 40-mile route around northern France that takes in historic sights including the Lochnagar crater and the Somme Museum in Albert (www.musee-somme-1916.eu) (check out the full route here).

The heart of the city, Lille's Grand Place. Image by Anita Isalska / Lonely Planet.

Get merry in Lille

Lille is no longer just a Eurostar stop between London and Brussels. The capital of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, this friendly city is winning visitors over with its charming old town, great eateries and yes, those much-maligned winter markets - all for a fraction of the price of Paris, bien sûr.

Start in the Grand Place, formerly a medieval marketplace and now home to the city’s most beautiful building, La Vieille Bourse. This 17th-century stock exchange ripples with cherubs, horns of plenty and carved lions. From there take rue de la Bourse into Vieux Lille, the old town home to some of Lille’s most interesting sights: Flemish buildings painted orange and dusky rose; the neo-gothic Notre Dame de la Treille cathedral (www.cathedralelille.com); and even a Masonic temple with burnished gold relief.

Unexpected sights on every corner - a dramatic red-brick temple in Lille. Image by Anita Isalska / Lonely Planet.

Crucially for a city renowned for its friendly nightlife, this district is also packed with Lille’s most atmospheric eateries and liveliest places to drink. Wolf down galettes (savoury buckwheat crepes) at Le Repaire du Lion (www.lerepairedulion.com), slurp oysters at L’Huitriere (www.huitriere.fr) and drink your fill of Belgian beers at L’Autrement Dit (www.lautrementdit.com).

A stained-glass sunset in Roubaix's La Piscine. Image by Anita Isalska / Lonely Planet.

Discover small-town treasures

Lille is the perfect base for exploring the region’s lesser-known highlights, including Roubaix, Amiens, Arras and Villeneuve d’Ascq. Each of these unassuming towns has a star attraction, so they’re ideal for day-trips.

Roubaix’s crowning sight is La Piscine, an utterly unique gallery space in a former swimming pool. The gallery has a breathtaking array of sculptures and paintings, lit by an enormous stained-glass sunset. It’s also worth exploring Roubaix’s neck-craning Eglise St-Martin, dating to 1511 - and leave time for a hearty Flemish stew at local favourite Baraka (www.cooperativebaraka.fr).

Over in Amiens, the big highlight doesn’t require much of a search - simply look up. The city’s cathedral is the tallest in France, dwarfing the world-famous Notre Dame in Paris. And there’s only one thing you should be nibbling on as you gaze up at its wealth of gothic flourishes, tracery and stained-glass windows: macarons d’Amiens, local almond and honey cakes.

In Arras you'll see a much more eclectic blend of architectural styles. The wealth of influences is the result of an astonishing post-war rebirth. More than 90% of Arras' houses were reduced to rubble in WWII, but the painstaking rebuild in the following decades has produce a visual feast where colourful art deco facades jostle with narrow Flemish-style housefronts and Baroque stylings.

Finally, underrated Villeneuve d’Ascq is becoming a niche art hub because of LaM (www.musee-lam.fr), its museu

The dramatic Amiens Cathedral. Image by Anita Isalska / Lonely Planet.

Experience the Ch’ti craze

A new craze for northern France was born after the 2008 release of ‘Bienvenue chez les ch’tis’ (translated as Welcome to the Sticks; a ch’ti is a term for a northerner and a type of regional French slang). Ever since this affectionate satire, the unpretentious warmth of northerners has been a mainstay of French popular culture (sparking offshoot TV shows about no-nonsense northerners and their exploits).

It took a while for travel to the region to feel the ch'ti effect, but Bergues, where most of the film’s action takes places, is riding the wave. There are guided tours of the film’s key sights while visitors continue to be surprised by Bergues’ small-town prettiness and the peaceful plains of Flanders (see www.bergues-tourisme.fr; French only).

‘A stranger coming to the North cries twice,’ according to the movie. ‘Once when he arrives, and once when he leaves.’ When the time comes for you to leave behind the Nord-Pas-de-Calais's quaint and quirky towns, rich history and hearty cuisine, we think you’ll agree.

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Contributed by by Anita Islaska