When the Pyramid was new, it took literally hours in line to get into the Louvre through the main entrance. ... Line ups can be long at the Louvre but there are multiple entrances. ... [From Daily Photos & Frugal Travel Tips » Blog Archive » Entrances To The Louvre, Paris, France ]
Tops on my list used to be a climb to the top of La Samaritaine (sadly, no more) to the free observation deck where you could see all of Paris (like in that famous Willy Ronis photo), guided by a painted tile chart of the names of all the distinctive landmarks on view below. Now, I'd have to replace that with a climb to either the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame (almost always long lines), or the Eiffel Tower (also long lines). ... At least, you can say you saw them, though you'll spend more time jockeying for position among the tourists than in getting a good view (time that could have been spent seeing the other thousands of pieces that any other museum would build their entire collection around) 3.
