Open Top Bus Tour - Louvre Museum Paris France
Stopping at La Madeleine Church and the Opera Garnier
Jul 13, 2008
La Madeleine Church is modelled on a Greek temple and is surrounded by 52 Corinthian columns, athough a little austere looking on the outside, it's well worth visiting. Work started on the building in 1764, but was halted during the French Revolution. It was finally consecrated as a church in 1845.
The next stop on the circuit is the Paris Opera House, but before you go in search of the Phantom’s ghost the nearby and world famous department stores of Le Printemps and Galeries Lafayatte offer the ultimate in retail therapy.
Paris Opera House
The Opera Garnier, not to be mistaken for the opera house at the Bastille, is quite simply magnificent. The Rough Guide to Paris describes the façade as, “A fairytale concoction of white, pink and green marble, colonnades, rearing horses, winged angels, and gleaming gold busts of composers.”
Providing there are no rehearsals going on a visitor can spend many hours exploring this famous old building.
The area around the Place de L’Opera is thick with bars and restaurants. It’s a great place to relax with a coffee or a beer and watch the world go past. One word of warning, before you order always check the cost first, the area is home to some very expensive establishments.
The familiar green and yellow Paris L’Open Tour bus now turns southeast and heads towards the Louvre Museum
The Louvre Museum
The Louvre Museum is sadly now inextricably linked with the book and film the Da Vinci Code, but for the millions of art lovers who descend on this building every year there is much more.
The Louvre exhibits over 35,000 works of art in 60,000 metres of space. The entrance to this magnificent museum is through a contentious steel and glass pyramid, which rises from the centre of the Cour Napoleon.
While it’s easy to be seduced by Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, there are magnificent paintings by Carravaggio, Bellini and many others. Add Greek, Etruscan, Roman and Egyptian antiquities, and it would take a lifetime to see and appreciate everything at the Louvre.
To make the most of your visit, it’s really important to make plans beforehand and list everything you want to see.
Where to Buy Your Paris L’Open Tour Ticket?
You can buy one or two day tickets at a number of places including: Paris tourist offices, at La Boutique on Rue Auber, which is near theParis Opera House or on any of the L'Open Tour buses. There are distinctive bus stops at all the major sites.
Where Does it Go?
There are four separate circuits of the city:
Paris Grand Tour
Montparnasse – Saint Germain
Montmarte – Grand Boulevards
Bastille – Bercy
Madeleine to Louvre is part of the Grand Tour.
For those visitors whose first language is not French there is running commentary available in a number of languages.
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