Louvre, Paris

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This trip I tried Café Marly for a nightlife experience but having heard all the hype about the place was a little underwhelmed (although many would consider it touristy since it is mentioned in many guidebooks). Café Marly, however, does have a nice view from the terrace and our waiter was funny and the vin chaud (hot spiced wine) was really nice that cold evening in November. But I think I would've been much happier at the tables down below, which afford much better views as it sits right on the spot where Io Ming Pei's pyramide sits.

Vin chaud or grog goes for 8€; water, soft drinks, tea, fruit juice and pressés go for 6€; cocktails go for 12€, wine runs between 28 - 390€ a bottle, champagne between 65€ for Lanson to 300€ for Krug - grande cuvée; meanwhile, viennoisserie (croissant, pain au chocolat or pain aux raisins) goes for a very reasonable 2€!

Unfortunately, Café Marly has no website of its own and there's scant information on the Louvre's website. However, just for you good VT folk I took the liberty of photographing the menus that sit at the entrance. Please look at the photos to see some menu prices for some drinks.

Open from 8am - 2am every day of the week.

Photos: November 2007

Dress Code: Although it's an upscale spot, my friend, Michael Osman, and I had no trouble feeling comfy in our dressy casual clothes.

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Situated near the Comedie Francaise, just north of the Louvre, and just south of the gardens of the Palais Royal is this wonderful brasserie/salon de thé, Le Nemours.

A group of us joined up here for drinks just prior to our sojourn to Le Train Bleu. Set in beautiful surroundings of ultra-tall ceilings and rose decor, one can enjoy just a coffee or a vin chaud (hot wine) to take the chill off after a day of tromping around Paris. Outside is a terrace for excellent people watching against the backdrop of the quirky, colorful metro station, Palais Royal.

Apparently, because of its close proximity to the Comedie Francaise, you can see members of that theatre here after a performance!

Photos: February 2006 & November 2007

Dress Code: Casual

The Louvre is another good place to go people watching. You can walk around the large courtyard, sit around and enjoy the lights coming from the Glass Louvre Pyramid. The Louvre Pyramid is the large metal and glass pyramid which serves as the main entrance to the museum and has in the meantime become a landmark for the city of Paris. Commissioned by the French president François Mitterrand, it was built in 1989 by the architect I. M. Pei from New York.

Don't forget go inside to the squarre of the Louvre, where is the piramide. Great architectural work.
No oblideu anar a dins del Louvre, a la plaça, per la nit, on està la piràmide. Gran treball d'arquitectura.

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Once I visited the Louvre Museum in the evening. At wednesday and friday the museum is open till 9.45pm. I had a interesting visit and saw a nice selection of the archaeological parts with artefacts from the Assyrian, Egyptian, Greeke and Roman culture and I went to some galleries with the famous paintings like the Mona Lisa and other masterpieces of art.

When I came out of the museum in the dark the pyramid and the fountain, looked wonderful with all the lights. So if you have not enough time during the day, you can go the Louvre Museum in the evening !