Information for Travelers to Paris - 15 Dec 95

The Louvre is Closed
The Louvre is closed all this weekend. Completely closed. Officially closed. The whole place is closed. The Tourist Office did not say the closure had anything to do with the strikes.

The National Gallery of the Grand Palais, is extending its hours, now from 10:00 to 19:15, for the 'Cezanne,' Serinde, Land of Buddha' expositions. The Orsay Museum is definitely open until 16:00.

National museums in Paris are open, some with modified times. According to the tourist office, the following establishments are open: the Museum of Asian Arts - Guimet Museum- the permanent collection are closed with the exception of the exposition 'China, the Horse and the Men' in the Pantheon 'Boudhique', open until 16:00; the National Middle-Ages Museum, Cluny; the Picasso museum; the National Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions; the Asian, African, and Oceanie Arts Museum; the City of Science and Industry at la Villette; the Rodin Museum; the Gustav Moreau Museum, from 10:00 to 12:30 and from 14:00 to 16:00; the Natural History Museum; the Arab World Institute; the Henner Museum; the Money Museum; the Palais de la Decouverte and finally, the L'Orangerie Museum is open until 15:30 too.

Paris' own museums are all open, possibly with normal closing hours. This includes the catacombs, 1 place Denfert Rochereau; and the sewers, which are as usual, in front of number 93, Quai d'Orsay, in the 7th arrondissement.

The following private museums and sites should be open, although closing times may be extended: Tour Eiffel, Tour Montparnasse, the Maillot Museum, the Espace Dali,the Museum de Montmartre and the Museum de la Poupee.

The following monuments are open, but I do not have new hours of closing. If in doubt call for information. The Arc de Triomphe, the Pantheon, Sainte Chapelle, the Conciergerie, the Notre Dame Archeological Crypt; but the towers of Notre Dame probably remain closed.

Paris Region
Sites open in the Paris Region are the following: the Versailles Chateau; the Museum of the Chateau at Fontainbleau; the Museum of the Granges of Port Royal; the Museum of the Chateau Malmaison; the Renaissance Museum at Chateau d'Ecouen; the National Antiquities Museum at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, until 16:30; the Museum of Franco-American Co-operation at the Chateau of Bierancourt; the Ceramics Museum of Sevres, from 10:00 to noon and 13:30 to 15:00 (but not the permanent collection); and last but by no means least, the Museum at the Chateau de Compiegne is open.

As a public service the Tourist Office has passed a 'scoop' along to this reporter. They have received 'inside' information that the transport, mail, electricity, and telephone services will all be operating normally by next Tuesday. As a professional in this business I had to pass a test in skepticism, and although I don't want to unnecessarily dash anybody's hopes, the public sector labor disputes which are continuing as I write this, are by no means resolved. Dress warmly.