No trip to Paris is complete without a visit to the world-famous Louvre museum, home to the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and much more. Tickets aren’t exactly cheap (admission ranges from €6 to €13, with cheaper prices offered from 6 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays), but the creme de la creme of the museum world opens its doors for free on the first Sunday of each month! (The Musée d’Orsay and the Rodin Museum offer free admission on the first Sunday of each month as well).

Cheapos heading to the city of light in the near future are in for another chance opportunity: on July 14th, Bastille Day, the Louvre offers free admission as well. What better way to celebrate the French Revolution than by admiring some of the nation’s finest art for free?

Check the Musée de Louvre’s site for additional opportunities for a prix-free art fix.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Last week, Paris’ office of tourism announced that 69 million tourists visited the city’s attractions in 2006. Yowsa. And what were the most popular sights?

• First place: Notre Dame — 13.5 million visitors graced the cathedral, up from 13 million in 2005.
• Second place: Basilica de Sacre Coeur in Montmartre — 10 million visits, up from 8 million in 2005.
• Third place: The Louvre — 8.3 million visits, up 10.3 % from 2005.
• Honorable mention: Musee d’Orsey, the 20-year old museum of 19th and 20th Century art, placed seventh with 3 million visits, its highest number ever.

But who are these visitors? The New York Times reports today that the country is aware of the foreign-born demographic packing its museums (occasionally turning the Louvre into a “crowded railroad station”).

President Sarkozy’s government is considering ways to bring the French back into their own cultural institutions, including free admission for les francais. Just don’t bump Mona…

Popularity: 5% [?]

If you’ll be in the Louvre any time soon, don’t be confused by rather anachronistic installation pieces scattered throughout the museum.

In the Puget and Marly sculpture galleries, contemporary artists have put up resin statues and fake trees next to the marble figures of greek gods. It’s all part of the Counterpoint program, which runs through June 25. This is the third edition of Counterpoint, which features the work of 11 sculptors: Elisabeth Ballet, Richard Deacon, Luciano Fabro, Gloria Friedmann, Anish Kapoor, Robert Morris, Claudio Parmiggiani, Giuseppe Penone, Didier Trenet, Michel Verjux, and Jacques Vieille.

Many museum-goers appear to be annoyed at the juxtaposition of new and old, but we appreciate the impulse to shake things up a little.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Photograph by Rita Crane

Apparently the French Ministry of Culture caught on that €8 is a lot to pay just to get lost trying to find the Mona Lisa.

For younger visitors, there’s a better way. The Louvre is absolutely free for everyone under 26 years old, every Friday evening. The free hours are from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Who knew the Louvre was the place to be on a Friday night?

This Friday, March 23rd, 2007, there’s the added bonus of free music to compliment your art. Students from the National Conservatory of Music will be playing in front of their favorite pieces of art throughout the museum. Two for the price of none!

Take metro lines 1 or 7 to Palais Royal Musée du Louvre. The station connects to the museum underground.

Popularity: 2% [?]

photograph by Melanie Clatanoff

Museums in Paris are free on the first Sunday of the month. So now that you have absolutely no excuse not to soak in a little culture, where to go?

We suggest avoiding the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay, where there will be a herd of about six thousand fellow Cheapos standing in line.

Try the Picasso Museum. The museum is in a huge 17th century mansion, tucked away on a little backstreet in the 3rd arrondissement. It’s one of the best (and least-crowded!) museums in Paris.

The museum is located in the Marais, which is a great weekend neighborhood to begin with. While the rest of Paris shuts down on Sundays, the Marais keeps going. You can grab some falafel and even go shopping post-Pablo.

Located at 5 rue de Thoringy, metro Saint Paul (line 1), open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Popularity: 3% [?]

photograph courtesy of purplepunk

For those on the hunt for a good cultural bargain, the Nuit des Musees in Paris can’t be beat. If you’re not familiar with it (yet), here’s the key info. In 2005, the French Department of Culture launched this program to provide free admission to select museums in Paris and throughout France, keeping museum doors open until 1 a.m.

The development of free museum nights has really taken off across Europe, with city after city opening their doors once or twice a year for a free evening. Paris holds its free night each year in May.

One caveat, though: We tried getting into the Louvre at midnight during last year’s Nuit des Musees only to find the entrance closed at 11 p.m.

Our advice: Plan ahead. Fortunately, the Louvre’s terrace bar overlooks the pyramids. And, of course, there’s the adjacent Jardin des Tuilleries, with its much more hospitable hours.

Popularity: 2% [?]

photograph courtesy of the Louvre

Guards at the Louvre in Paris are preparing to strike for a raise. The museum’s guards are arguing that the stresses of looking after Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) warrant higher pay.

According to an article in today’s 20 minutes, the guards blame their discontent on a surge of visitors to the Louvre that hasn’t been met with an increase in the number of guards. Attendance at the Louvre rose from 7,500,000 in 2005 to 8,300,000 in 2006, while the number of guards on duty has remained static at 180.

“What’s really bad is the brouhaha of the crowds, most of all in the most visited halls, including those of the La Gioconda, the Venus de Milo, and Michelangelo,” explained a guard in 20 minutes. “And the worst are the ‘free Sundays.’ 65,000 visitors a day, it’s unbearable and even dangerous.”

The guards, who are also apparently sick of yelling “No flash!” all day, are seeking an additional €150 a month to balance out the increased job stress.

Who’s smiling now?

Popularity: 2% [?]