“A James Bond robbery,” frustrated tourists say at the Louvre’s closure.
Paris, Oct 20 (EFE)
“It was like a movie, worthy of James Bond,” said a Chilean tourist who, like thousands of other frustrated visitors, was unable to enter the Louvre on Monday, the world’s most visited museum, temporarily closed due to Sunday’s spectacular jewel theft.
Separated by a fence and a few meters from the imposing Louvre pyramid, which marks the entrance to the gigantic museum, tourists from several countries wandered this morning between disbelief and indignation.
Complaints in English, French, Italian, Arabic, and Spanish could be heard along the security perimeter, which was also populated by numerous television cameras and a few curious onlookers.
“It’s a tremendous disappointment,” Chilean Michel Sánchez told EFE, pointing to the museum’s poor management after confirming Monday’s exceptional closure, for which the Louvre provided no concrete explanation.
“We understand the context, but I’m also a little annoyed because it didn’t cost anything to send us an email (informing us of the closure), and when we tried to change the dates on the website, they said it wasn’t possible,” Sánchez criticized.
For his colleague, Jessica Garreda, today’s frustration will be difficult to digest, given her professional work in architecture and interior design.
“All of this affects me greatly. I’m left with the empty experience of not having been able to see it, but I’m also left with the richness of the city,” she noted. The two Chileans have a trip with several stops in Europe and cannot extend their stay in Paris beyond Tuesday, the day the museum will remain closed due to its weekly day off.
Both were very surprised by the way the robbery occurred: through a freight elevator that the thieves used to climb up to steal nine priceless French crown jewels.
“It was like something out of a movie, like something from James Bond, where he sneaks through the ceilings to steal a jewel,” Sánchez said.
A few meters from the Chilean couple, a group of Mexican tourists from the state of Chihuahua, who had also traveled thousands of kilometers across the Atlantic to see the Louvre, shared their disbelief.
“It’s incredible that a robbery of that magnitude could have happened here. It’s like something out of a movie,” Daisy Villalobos and Carmen García agreed in statements to EFE.
“I came to the museum last year, but I still had a lot to see. There are many rooms, and they say it takes 365 days to tour. So I said, I’m going to savor it this time, but it won’t be possible,” admitted Villalobos, whose dream was to see the legendary Mona Lisa.
Norma and Rafael Gutiérrez, also a Mexican couple, expressed their disappointment at not being able to visit the famous museum. “We’re all out here without being able to get in, and it looks like they’re not going to open today, but we’ll still be able to enjoy the city,” said Rafael, who is traveling to Italy with his wife tomorrow.
“We come from Mexico, which is experiencing very difficult times of insecurity. So it’s sad to see something similar happening here in France,” lamented Norma.
Although she spent far fewer hours on the plane than the Chileans and Mexicans to get to Paris, Spanish citizen Domi Chaparro, from Ciudad Real, hasn’t hidden her disappointment either.
“This is the second time we’ve come to Paris, and we came specifically to see the Louvre, because we couldn’t see it last time due to renovations, so this is very disappointing,” acknowledged the tourist, accompanied by a friend and returning to Spain on Wednesday.
However, Chaparro, who had purchased her ticket in advance, is confident there won’t be any problems getting a refund.
