Monet exhibition advice
October 29, 2010 9:51 AM Subscribe
What time and day to go to the Paris Monet exhibition?
We will be in Paris the last two weeks in November and want to see the Monet exhibition at the Grand Palais. We missed the opportunity to buy tickets online and so are looking for advice about which day of the week and at what time should we go to stand in line for admission to maximize our chances to get in (or where we could still snag tickets!)
We will be in Paris the last two weeks in November and want to see the Monet exhibition at the Grand Palais. We missed the opportunity to buy tickets online and so are looking for advice about which day of the week and at what time should we go to stand in line for admission to maximize our chances to get in (or where we could still snag tickets!)
Never mind. When I actually click a date it says that it is not available. Strange...
posted by vacapinta at 10:49 AM on October 29, 2010
posted by vacapinta at 10:49 AM on October 29, 2010
Response by poster: Thank you vacapinta we appreciate the effort.
posted by leafwoman at 10:58 AM on October 29, 2010
posted by leafwoman at 10:58 AM on October 29, 2010
Best answer: My friend who went last week recommended going in the evening. She said the morning was packed, and the evening was so much better (it's open until 22:00).
Another friend went early in the morning (got up at 06:30 to start queuing at 08:00). They still queued for an hour, but apparently it can be as bad as 3 hours.
I'd say evening probably wins.
I'm thinking of going sometime next week in the evening - will report back!
posted by djgh at 2:20 PM on October 29, 2010
Another friend went early in the morning (got up at 06:30 to start queuing at 08:00). They still queued for an hour, but apparently it can be as bad as 3 hours.
I'd say evening probably wins.
I'm thinking of going sometime next week in the evening - will report back!
posted by djgh at 2:20 PM on October 29, 2010
Sorry that this update is so late - what with moving apartment etc., things got pushed back a bit.
Here's what I know:
- Going at 17:30 on Friday afternoon worked fine. We queued for about 45 minutes, quickly bought tickets and went in no problem. There was a guy playing clarinet there, and the queuing was orderly.
- Make sure you have an umbrella and a coat though - it's been raining a lot recently (although tonight was fine).
- There are signs at various points in the queue (e.g. 2 and a half hours left to queue from here). I think we were lucky in that lots of people leave in the evenings, making things quicker, but hey, there's a risk you could be there that long.
- Pre-bought tickets are now all sold out (you can still buy on the door), but they do separate queuing for those with and without tickets.
- If you don't want to risk queuing, it looks like you can still get twinned tickets (i.e. two exhibitions in one) online, and I'd imagine at ay Fnac store in person. This might be the most queue-free, risk-free option.
- The queue for the coatcheck etc. was insanely long. Don't bring anything you need to check.
- They search bags when you go in. I have no idea if they confiscate liquid (it didn't look like it), but there's a restaurant you can buy bottled water in on the first floor, and no one minded us sipping as we went round.
- The exhibition is massive. Absolutely huge. There were crowds (not unbearable though) as well, but you can get up close to every painting. Again, I think crowds are thinner in the evenings, as everything was perfectly manageable.
- I spent over two hours there, the majority of which was on one of the two floors. In all honesty, I would recommend spreading your visit over two nights, since I was exhausted after just one floor. It goes on forever, and the quality of the exhibition is stunning - it really is. I would definitely try and go twice, and do one floor each visit.
- There is an iPhone app, with some audio. It covers the same paintings as the audio guide you can hire there (numbering is all the same), but I don't know if it's the same content. The audio guide didn't talk particularly about the painting itself so much as the context in which it was painted, and we ended up not using it after a few paintings (although this had a bit to do with the eventually time-pressured nature of our visit).
- The post card selection is great, and they start at about 1.10€.
In short:
- Go in the evening
- Go twice
posted by djgh at 1:24 PM on November 12, 2010
Here's what I know:
- Going at 17:30 on Friday afternoon worked fine. We queued for about 45 minutes, quickly bought tickets and went in no problem. There was a guy playing clarinet there, and the queuing was orderly.
- Make sure you have an umbrella and a coat though - it's been raining a lot recently (although tonight was fine).
- There are signs at various points in the queue (e.g. 2 and a half hours left to queue from here). I think we were lucky in that lots of people leave in the evenings, making things quicker, but hey, there's a risk you could be there that long.
- Pre-bought tickets are now all sold out (you can still buy on the door), but they do separate queuing for those with and without tickets.
- If you don't want to risk queuing, it looks like you can still get twinned tickets (i.e. two exhibitions in one) online, and I'd imagine at ay Fnac store in person. This might be the most queue-free, risk-free option.
- The queue for the coatcheck etc. was insanely long. Don't bring anything you need to check.
- They search bags when you go in. I have no idea if they confiscate liquid (it didn't look like it), but there's a restaurant you can buy bottled water in on the first floor, and no one minded us sipping as we went round.
- The exhibition is massive. Absolutely huge. There were crowds (not unbearable though) as well, but you can get up close to every painting. Again, I think crowds are thinner in the evenings, as everything was perfectly manageable.
- I spent over two hours there, the majority of which was on one of the two floors. In all honesty, I would recommend spreading your visit over two nights, since I was exhausted after just one floor. It goes on forever, and the quality of the exhibition is stunning - it really is. I would definitely try and go twice, and do one floor each visit.
- There is an iPhone app, with some audio. It covers the same paintings as the audio guide you can hire there (numbering is all the same), but I don't know if it's the same content. The audio guide didn't talk particularly about the painting itself so much as the context in which it was painted, and we ended up not using it after a few paintings (although this had a bit to do with the eventually time-pressured nature of our visit).
- The post card selection is great, and they start at about 1.10€.
In short:
- Go in the evening
- Go twice
posted by djgh at 1:24 PM on November 12, 2010
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posted by vacapinta at 10:44 AM on October 29, 2010