I’m not typically a museum gift shop gal, but after visiting the Louvre I did have a moment to stop by to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. The last time I visited was years ago, and since then they’ve really modernized it quite a bit.
Some of this stuff is too cool and makes for great gifts or souvenirs. The Louvre gift shop is a way to bring a piece of Louvre museum back home with you. You can’t really find Louvre merch anywhere else (and it’ll be a while before you probably decide to visit the museum again) so I definitely recommend having a look around.
Louvre Gift Shop Entrance
Many people think there’s just only one Louvre gift shop by the main exit. But there’s actually a second inside the museum. And even a third. I was not aware of this last one.
Here are the locations of the 3 Louvre gift shops and their entrances:
- The biggest: Main Book and Gift Shop at the -2 floor, before exiting the Louvre (via the Carrousel du Louvre shopping center).
- The most aesthetic: On floor 1 (Denon wing) in room 701 behind the Mona Lisa room (711)
- The most low-key: Small gift shop on the -1 floor by the main Escalator as you’re heading to the Sully wing.
If you’re confused about rooms locations of paintings check out:
Related: What to See in the Louvre in One Day [My KILLER Strategy]
My experience:
Floor 1 Louvre Gift Shop:
There are two gift shops that I visited. The first one was on the first floor behind the Mona Lisa. I mean how strategic can this placement get. Haha behind the world’s most famous painting.
Jokes aside this was actually a beautiful small gift shop amongst the vast paintings and gold brodure, which made it very magical.
How fun are these popup cut out cards.
There was also books, Louvre bags (the canvas tote ones), mugs, tea and Eiffel tower snow globes.
Top tip: Behind the cash register is actually one of the best photo spots for a view of the Louvre pyramid you will find. The view is stunning there.
I had to snap a pic here. I even managed one of the ferris wheel at Tuileries (which happens at the Christmas market every year).
Let’s not forget the huge selection of postcards. Which one would you pick? 🤔
Floor -2 Louvre Gift Shop (by the exit):
This is the biggest gift shop that you can’t really miss as it’s by the exit.
My sibling went to visit the book section while I was looking around. It’s actually pretty big. There’s an escalator inside the store that leads you up to a book section. I was too busy looking around at the stuff downstairs. On the way they told me how big and nice the book section was. I kinda regret missing it now.
So if you have that one naggy husband or restless person expedite them on up to the bookstore. For a moment of peace. They might actually enjoy it.
Ok now that that imaginary naggy husband is gone let’s do some exploring.
This my have been my favorite section. Can we just look at this Napoleon theme. After the release of the Napoleon movie (not great imo) this section made up for it. Uggh I know alot of people who are suckers for cats. I may be one of them. Also this is probably the only time I approve of berets.
Louvre gift shop jewelry
The first thing I noted was they had jewelry based on paintings and art pieces which I thought was really cool. They’ve basically replicated the same jewelry in the painting. So you get to wear the jewelry of your favorite painting. Note: prices were not cheap and it was limited in number of paintings.
Spotted some art-inspired home decor to bring a touch of artistry to our home with this Louvre collection.
And these cool compass bits and globes for that family explorer.
Ngl I thought this sweatshirt with Mona’s hands in the pockets was great.
Also this is the first time I see a make your own baguette kit. It doesn’t get more French than that haha.
ok but who remembers these cameras you would swipe the lever to view pictures. I used to love it as a kid.
There was tea. And I mean a lot of tea. It looks like the Louvre collaborates with ‘Palais des thes’ and they get their own Louvre packaging. Commission must be great seeing how much tea I saw.
Takeaway
Overall, I definitely recommend this Louvre gift shop if you can only visit one. It was very big with everything from silk scarves of paintings to children’s puzzles and interactive toys.
We ended up picking up a small Louvre booklet of all the artwork so we could relive the experience and explore artworks at home.
Now I wanna know what caught your eye- what would you get? Let me know in the comments.
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