Julie

There is an issue with exiting the Louvre with the transport system. Hundreds of people were pouring out at the same time and the situation at the underground entrance was frightening, with the overcrowding, and dangerous. I would suggest several announcements are made at the Louvre before closing time to try and manage the flow of people towards the train station and ease congestion. Also, there are ONLY two barriers for the huge crowd to get through at the station. I have never experienced such a frightening situation. In the UK we have police and queueing systems to help manage this and avert danger to people. There were transport officers waiting at the other side of the barriers trying to catch people out at this busy time of the museum closing. I was stopped and my ticket was taken. It transpired that the barrier machine had not processed my paper ticket and I was told I would be fined, they made up the fine amount on the spot. A man that was walking down the concourse at the same time as me who had the same issue, paid the fine, I was not tolerating the threats and was not going to be bullied and punished as i had not knowingly done anything wrong. Although we both seem to have had the same issue (and several others) there was no question as to what the problem could be, we were harnessed and bullied to extract a fine from us. It seemed like a scam (although they were wearing uniform) as staff were punching in numbers on a card machine saying “this is what you would normally pay but today you will pay this”. I tried to reason with the officer and he threatened me with the police if I did not pay as he demanded. I then became more forceful and argued with him repeatedly that I would not pay as I had already paid for 2 tickets that day, to get to the Louvre and back, and that it is not my fault if the machines are not working. I also pointed out that how could I have got through the barriers as they opened when I inserted my ticket. He then left to go up to the machine. His colleagues then told me I could leave. I was really appalled with the way I had been treated and especially that I had been threatened with law enforcement. They were deliberately stationed to harass visitors to the Louvre and tourists at the museum closing time. There needs to be an improvement in the communication between the museum and the transport system to address the dangerous situation upon closing hours, public safety and also harassment of tourists.
Also, there were a few times that I got stuck at stations and my tickets were not working and no one was stationed at the ticket booth. I tried to get help from the call button. I was informed that they did not speak English, they didn’t even try and become rude and hung up on me repeatedly.
So many of the stations and corridors reek of urine. Hygiene and cleanliness needs to be addressed, it is revolting.
The only good thing is that any staff actually based at stations were kind, patient and helpful.