The Louvre — an obligatory stop on any visit to the French capital — is the world's largest art museum and one of Paris' most-famed landmarks. It's also the place that Jay-Z and Beyonce shot their six-minute music video for ApeS**t, during which they shut down the gallery. And now you can do the same.
Luxury travel company Family Twist offers guests the chance to avoid the 10.2 million tourists that visited The Louvre last year and instead embark on a 90-minute private tour. The excursion costs €30,000 (Dh125,000) and is valid for four people. It also involves a Tesla chauffeur, an expert historian and a customised treasure hunt.
Just like during Jay-Z and Beyonce's visit, this private tour can only take place at night. Guests are collected from their hotel by a driver in a Tesla and transported to The Pyramid entrance of the museum. Once inside, each guest is given an envelope containing a segment of one of the artworks from the 38,000-piece collection, which they then have to try to track down.
With just 90 minutes on the clock, an art historian guides guests around, with the highlights including Jacques-Louis David's Coronation of Napoleon, the Great Sphinx of Tanis and Rosso Fiorentino's Pieta, all of which feature in the music video.
A performance by a ballerina performing on the stairs that lead to The Winged Victory of Samothrace, replicates the female dancers that writhed in front of Beyonce on that same staircase in front of the marble Greek statue of the goddess of victory.
The final flourish takes place in front of the world's most famous woman — not Beyonce but Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. With no other visitors, guests can really soak in the iconic masterpiece with the option to take a selfie in the same spot where the pop royalty were photographed. A riverboat cruise down the Seine ends the entire evening.
The company has only received a handful of bookings but with museum director Jean-Luc Martinez crediting Jay-Z and Beyonce in raising visitor numbers to the museum’s 226-year high, time will tell if more people are keen to spurge on the exclusive visit, despite it costing 500 times more than regular admission.
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