vincentinparis

Yes, a quick visit to the Louvre is possible. However, you need to do what you can to avoid the lines, both at the RER station and at the museum to maximize your time there. Don't attempt this on a Tuesday, when the museum is closed. Also, if you're making this trip soon, check on the strike situation on the trains. Next Monday, November 9, the lines will be virtually shut down by strike action.

I'd disagree with Stimpy. It wouldn't take all day to see the Louvre. It would take days and weeks. So the answer is this: don't try and see it all. Decide on a couple of things you want to see (the Egyptian rooms, the classical sculpture galleries, the Mona Lisa?), use the map they give you, and enjoy your stroll from place to place. There are wonderful surprises in every room.

After clearing immigration (you'll enter the Schengen zone in Paris), follow the signs to the RER station. Use the ticket machines if you can: have a lot of euro change on you, 8€50 per person each way, or use a chip-and-pin credit card - US cards with just a magnetic strip usually won't work. Catch any RER train to Paris, get off at Châtelet-Les Halles - this takes just over half an hour, but remember you'll be traveling into town with rush-hour traffic, so it could take a little longer. If you have time (the museum doors open at 9), it's a leisurely 15-minute stroll to the museum. I would walk along rue Saint-Honoré, rather than the busier rue de Rivoli, finding a morning croissant and a café crème on the way. However from Châtelet, the fastest way to the museum is to connect with the same ticket to metro line 1, in the direction of La Défense 2 stops to Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre, NOT Louvre-Rivoli. Exit at the head of the train and walk in the same direction the train was traveling. Do not go to the surface where all the tourists will be lining up to get in. You'll have time to admire the palace, the Tuileries gardens and the glass pyramid when you leave the museum.

Go down a few steps and you'll be in the shopping mall under the Louvre. The wait to get into the museum is much shorter here. Once you're in, buy your ticket and explore.

I'd suggest you wind up your visit by 11:30 at the latest. Come out at the pyramid, and marvel at the crowds of tourists still trying to get in. If you have time for an overpriced coffee, stop at Café Marly, under the arcades facing the Pyramid.

I personally would be comfortable getting back on the metro by 12, but if you're concerned about connections or losing your way in an unfamiliar town, allow yourself a little more time. Take line 1 in the direction of Château de Vincennes back to Châtelet-Les Halles then RER B back to the airport. READ THE BOARDS ON THE PLATFORM and make sure your train is an airport train, not a train to Mitry, as the line forks. 2F is very close to the train station (get off at the second airport stop) and so long as your connecting flight is within Europe, you won't have to clear immigration, but you will need to clear security again. It's usually reasonably quick. If you are traveling in business or have any elite status on Skyteam, use the "Accès n° 1" entrances, marked with a purple sign. If you're flying out of 2F for some place outside of Europe like Algiers or Beirut, leave a little more time, for both immigration and the slightly longer walk.

At this point you may need a sandwich or a snack. Exki has several tasty, and even reasonably healthy, options. For a flight at 13.30, AF will give you lunch, but I find their standard economy menu, cold macaroni pie or pasta salad, unappetizing. The lounge sandwiches are fresher, but not much tastier.

Bon voyage!