Tour Of Louvre Is A Must On Paris Visit

Q. I plan to be in Paris this winter or early next spring. I haven’t been there for several years. What’s new that I shouldn’t miss? Just how cold will it be? - B.C., Lantana, Fla.

A. My choice of “something new” in Paris is very old - the Louvre.

The world’s most famous art museum has become a place to shop and dine, rent a car, reserve a room, visit a bank or post office or attend a lecture, film or concert. Thousands of art treasures that had been stored away now hang in dozens of newly opened galleries that have doubled the Louvre’s display space.

The changes are stunning, and are all part of the “Grand Louvre” project that started in 1981 and will cost $1.25 billion when finished in a year or two.

The most obvious addition was the big glass pyramid that went up in the courtyard in 1989 and was immediately loved or despised by Parisians, who are noted for arguing about their landmarks. The pyramid, designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, looks beautiful when lighted at night, and serves as the new main entrance. It contains stairs and escalators to the lower entrance hall called the Hall Napoleon.

The Hall Napoleon is part of a vast underground complex that is full of surprises, things never associated with museums, such as an entire shopping center called the Carrousel du Louvre. The dozens of classy shops are too expensive for me, but window shopping is a real treat. There are restaurants, snack bars offering crepes and other elegant French stuff, and even a food court called the Restorama.

Besides the post office, bank and reservation desks, there are video screens with information on museum exhibits and ticket and information booths in the huge hall.

Also on view at this basement level are the moat from medieval days, when the Louvre was a fortified castle, and the remains of an ancient dungeon - both excavated as part of the Grand Louvre project.

Not everyone likes the place. Conde Nast Traveler magazine described it as “a lobby whose noise, scale and escalators recall an airport terminal on a busy day,” and urged visitors to avoid possible long lines by entering another way, from a small entry called the Porte Jaujard, west of the museum near what looks like a miniversion of the Arc de Triomphe. Using the alternate entrance is a good idea, but whoever wrote the Traveler story must have been having a bad day.

And I probably have made it sound as though the addition of a few shops and restaurants now make it worthwhile to invest time at the Louvre. Actually, what I like best about the new entrance design is that the Hall Napoleon is linked to all three wings of the museum in a smooth flow pattern devised by Pei. In the museum, where I had always gotten lost among the galleries, I had no trouble this time finding Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa, Venus deMilo and other must-sees.

I reserved most of my time for the newly opened Richelieu Wing, where the displays are brilliantly mounted, with a minimal look that’s far more modern than anything most museums achieve. This is not a new building, of course; it previously housed the French Ministry of Finance, which was relocated. Offices became galleries, and the apartments of Napoleon III, which the finance ministry had used for receptions, were restored and are also on display. This is the museum’s north wing, and the upper-story windows frame a great northward view of Paris. The central, Sully wing of the museum also was part of the project, with the addition of 39 new display rooms.

I had to be talked into visiting the Louvre on a short visit to Paris last spring, but after I got there I wished I had had more time. It would be a great place to spend the entire day when the weather is lousy. (It can be accessed directly from the Palais Royale/Louvre Metro station.)

As for weather, I’ve been to Paris in winter and rather enjoyed it. The good subway (Metro) system makes it easy to get around while staying warm, and it’s worth frostbite to see the evening lights illuminating the famous monuments, which seem especially brilliant in winter. Street stands offer roasted chestnuts, and crepes rolled around sweet sauces laced with cognac. Sidewalk cafes are warmly-lighted and snug in their canvas and glass enclosures. Europe has a cozy feeling in winter.

I travel there mostly by train (as I did this time, coming to Paris from London on the Channel Tunnel Aerostar), and arrive at warm stations from where subways or buses take me to a hotel. By traveling light and dressing warmly, I never found winter to be a problem.

Q. Do cruise lines have anything like the airlines’ frequent flier programs? I know people who take repeated cruises on the same ship, and wonder if they get any cut rates or free cruises as a result. - J.C.

A. Yes. Cruise lines have a variety of rewards for repeat passengers, usually some sort of discounts or upgrades.

In fact, I met three “frequent cruisers” recently aboard Cunard Line’s Sagafjord when it called at Port Everglades. They were the first Cunard passengers to redeem the “Cunard Cruise Miles” they had accumulated on the line’s ships. Depending on points accumulated by the more than 1 million passengers now enrolled in the Cunard plan, passengers qualify for cabin upgrades, discounted and even free cruises.

Eleanor Frank of Delray Beach, Fla., one of the three, has piled up more than 1,000 days of cruising on Cunard ships, including 13 world cruises (most taken before the Cruise Miles program began), and had just completed the Sagafjord’s grand Pacific cruise. Her accumulated miles added up to a free cruise to Bermuda. Cruise miles can be earned on all of Cunard’s 13 ships and are valid for up to seven years.

Frank says she recommends cruising for stress-free vacationing, “where you can drop a towel and not have to pick it up, and never have to make a bed.” Amen.

Travel agents should know which lines have similar programs.