Good ideas for enjoying art at budget prices

Museums for free



On the first Sunday of each month, the national museums are accessible to everyone free of charge: this means the Louvre, Orsay and Rodin, etc.
And that’s not all, because the City of Paris has made the permanent collections of a whole list of museums free all year round for culture enthusiasts, including the Musée d’Art Moderne, the Maison de Balzac, the Petit Palais …
And the latest news applies to under 25-year-olds and teachers: they are entitled to free admission throughout the year (from April 2009) in all national museums and monuments.



Museum late openings

What could be better than strolling through the galleries of a museum at nightfall, once most other visitors have headed home?
Musée du Louvre (mercredi et vendredi jusqu’à 21h45), Paris 1er – www.louvre.fr
Centre Pompidou (jusqu’à 22h, jeudi jusqu’à 23h) pl Georges-Pompidou, Paris 4e – www.centrepompidou.fr
Institut du monde arabe (jeudi jusqu’à 21h) 1 rue des Fossés-Saint-Bernard-pl Mohammed-V, Paris 5e – www.imarabe.org
Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (jeudi jusqu’à 22h) jardin des Plantes, Paris 5e – www.mnhn.fr
Musée d’Orsay (jeudi jusqu’à 21h45) 1 rue de la Légion-d’Honneur, Paris 7e – www.musee-orsay.fr
Palais de Tokyo (jusqu’à 24h) 13 av du Président-Wilson, Paris 16e – www.palaisdetokyo.com
Musée de l’Érotisme (jusqu’à 2h) 72 bd de Clichy, Paris 18e – www.musee-erotisme.com

Other good tips

Cut-price theatre tickets

With more than 150 theatres, 122 concert halls and 31 café-theatres, Paris has a rich night-scene. Cut-price ticket kiosques sell tickets at half price on the day of the performance. Anyone can buy a ticket regardless of age or nationality. No advance bookings by telephone; you have to buy your tickets at the kiosque. Certain private theatres also offer reductions on the fi rst days of performances with the initiative “Soyez les premiers aux premières” (“Be the first at the premières”), as well as for all young people under 26 years.

Opera for everyone




Paris’s two opera houses are far from being reserved just for an elite public. Since 2005, it has been possible to buy tickets for standing places at 5 euros! Under 28-year-olds benefi t from reduced-cost tickets all year round. (25 euros for an opera performance, 15 euros for dance or a “Frontières” show, 10 euros for a concert). They should present themselves at the ticket offi ce of the opera house a quarter of an hour before the beginning of the performance.