By far the best thing that I did in 2018 was go to Europe & the UK. I talked about it a little while ago, but I still have more to say. The trip that I took this spring was my first big excursion with a disability, so I wanted to share some tips that I picked up along the way. This post is all about how to plan your trip to the Louvre, with a little twist for theNotice: how to plan your trip to the Louvre with a wheelchair.
How to plan your trip to the Louvre
Going to a tourist hotspot is tough at the best of times, but it’s a bigger struggle when you need accommodations. (The Palace of Versailles was way harder—although that’s a story for another day). My top trips for travellers are pretty simple: go early, and buy a timeslot ticket if possible.
- Arrive before 9. The Louvre opens at 9 AM daily and is closed on Tuesdays, so it’s best to arrive at or before 9:00. I’ve read on other blogs that Mondays are the busiest days to go.
- Buy in advance. If you’ve already purchased your ticket, you’re unlikely to wait more than 15 minutes in lines (which can stretch for up to 3 hours without a pre-purchased ticket.)
- Use a side entrance. We arrived early enough not to need this, but the Porte des Lions entrance (before the pyramid, in the wings) and the underground Carrousel du Louvre entrance have shorter lines all day long.
- Plan in advance. The layout is tricky, so if you already know which wings you’re most interested in, the day will go by a lot more quickly.
- DO go underground! The Sully wing gave me a look into the Louvre that I wasn’t expecting, which includes the architecture of the medieval Louvre and a look into its long history.
Travelling with a disability
How to plan your trip to the Louvre changes when you have a disability. I stay in most mornings while I travel, resting up while my companions explore the city. On days when I need to be up early, I almost always use a chair.
As an occasional wheelchair user, I travel without my wheelchair. It makes airport security easier, and means that I can borrow one whenever I need to.
Many countries in the EU have accessibility laws requiring museums to have wheelchairs available to the public. France’s 2005 disability law ensures this, but we found it to be the case in London and Berlin as well. Some museums will hold your ID to make sure you return the chair (the Louvre is one of them), but for the most part, you just have to explain your situation and they’re happy to accommodate.
Use a checklist
If you have a disability, here are a few extra tips that I found helpful!
- Bring your paperwork, and keep it handy. It gets checked frequently and thoroughly.
- Don’t be shy. If you have trouble with fatigue, go straight to the front of the line in your wheelchair or politely ask for one while you wait. They’ll either bring you one or have you skip the queue entirely.
- Pull your documentation immediately. This is almost never the case in Canada, but many museums in the EU give free admission to people with disabilities plus one attendant. Because I frequently run out of energy and have to cut my day short after an hour or two, having the entry fee waived (otherwise $53 CAD for two people at the Louvre) gave us the option to come back for multiple short visits without racking up a huge bill.
- Ask for help! Older museums aren’t always accessible, and the Louvre is perhaps the guiltiest offender. Some areas are impossible to traverse in a wheelchair, but museum attendants can take you through staff passageways to circumvent sets of stairs. Plus, as a bonus, the passageways are super cool!
Crying in the Louvre…
…is just a thing that’s going to happen, so you may as well accept it. I’m a pretty emotional person, and being surrounded by thousands of pieces of human excellence was a lot for me to handle.
What really got me was my experience with the Mona Lisa. I planned on skipping it: I was in a wheelchair, and it’s notorious for being so popular that you can only get a glance at it from a distance. But when we stumbled upon it by accident, the Louvre attendant in the room immediately walked over to my mother and told her to push my chair up in front of the guide railing.
I was completely gutted by the action. The Mona Lisa wasn’t that impressive; it was tiny and cracked and holds so much history that it would be impossible for it to live up to its name. Having someone go out of their way to make sure that I could see it too was a hundred times more impressive.
I cried. There are hundreds of things that I will never be able to do because of my disability, but very few things that I am able to do because of it. It’s difficult to put into words how incredible it was to be given a perfect, unobstructed view of the most famous piece of art in the world simply because someone at the Louvre decided that people with disabilities—who often struggle ten times as much just to get to the museum doors—deserve to enjoy art with the same abandon as everyone else.
The Mona Lisa was just okay. The people surrounding it were incredible.
One other great thing I did in 2018
I re-wrote my life plan for a future with a disability… and then I bought myself a couple of demi-fine rings. I thought for a little bit that I has a craving in my belly to run into the sunset and immediately get hitched, but I was wrong. What I actually wanted was a couple little cluster rings, so I solved the problem and put a ring on it.
What can I say? I’m pretty great and rings are shiny. It’s simple math, and apparently, I’m good at math.
Emerald cut black onyx: from Villani Designs on Etsy. I wouldn’t recommend this one; it sits quite high, and is almost definitely a 5 instead of a 4 1/2. I never heard back from the shop owner when I asked for it to be re-sized to the correct dimensions.
Amethyst, opal, and white topaz cluster ring: from Minette. This Jeni Moon Cluster Ring ring fits really well, and its holding up nicely. The Minette international shipping rates are outrageous, so I’d recommend purchasing from Local Eclectic if they have your size!
What did you love this year?
