Strike Deprives Paris Tourists of Museums

Disappointed tourists combed Paris on Friday, searching for a museum that might have escaped a strike that has closed many national treasures for the past three days.

“Unbelievable. We wanted to see all the museums. We were going to spend the whole day at the Louvre,” said Stacy Safran of Knoxville, Tenn. “I guess we’ll see the outside of the buildings.”

The strike over staffing levels, which began Wednesday, has shut down the Louvre, the popular Orsay Museum with its collection of Impressionist paintings, and the Picasso Museum, among others.

The walkout also hit the Cluny Museum of medieval art, the Arc de Triomphe and the Pantheon, the resting place of the nation’s greatest minds. Outside Paris, the Fontainebleau Chateau was closed, as were a number of other castles.

“I read about [the strike] in the newspaper this morning, but I didn’t believe it,” said Judy Sandler of Cambridge, Mass., who hoped to visit the Orsay Museum.

Strikes at museums are not uncommon in France. Louvre employees walked out for six days in December, and Orsay workers were on strike for two weeks in November. However, this is the first time in recent years that so many museums were affected by labor discontent.

“Real Jobs for Culture,” read a huge banner above the entrance to the Orsay. Photocopied notices in French and English taped to the doors informed visitors of the strike.

One Dutch woman who said she had wanted to spend hours in front of the Impressionists threw up her hands and laughed. “Oh well, next time,” she said, and headed for a cafe to plot her next move.

Tourist frustration was highest at the Louvre, home to Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” and the Greek “Winged Victory” statue, which attracts more than 5 million people a year.

Scores of visitors crowded the main entrance, where signs in six languages--French, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese--gave visitors the bad news.

Striking workers handed out leaflets in French explaining their grievances.

Some tried to explain their cause to visitors--mainly foreigners--but had trouble because of the language barrier.

The employees want the Ministry of Culture to hire more people, especially for security, and to end a system of temporary contracts and give workers permanent employment.

“Its very hard in the exhibition rooms,” said Babette Valenca, a striking security guard who has worked at the Louvre for 10 years. “There are too many people visiting. There are too many works of art to protect and not enough employees.”

Most visitors simply headed off for those museums still open, including the Orangerie with its fabulous display of Monets and the Rodin sculpture museum. The Eiffel Tower was extra busy.

Strikers said the walkout would likely continue through at least today, but the weekend weather report predicted sunshine--and many consider outdoor Paris a museum in itself.