Two travellers will get to spend a night sleeping in the Louvre Museum as part of the museum's 30th anniversary. Courtesy Airbnb / Julian-Abrams
Two travellers will get to spend a night sleeping in the Louvre Museum as part of the museum's 30th anniversary. Courtesy Airbnb / Julian-Abrams
Two travellers will get to spend a night sleeping in the Louvre Museum as part of the museum's 30th anniversary. Courtesy Airbnb / Julian-Abrams
Two travellers will get to spend a night sleeping in the Louvre Museum as part of the museum's 30th anniversary. Courtesy Airbnb / Julian-Abrams

Sleep over at the Louvre: World-famous museum to open overnight for lucky prize winner

Travellers have the chance to bed down in the Parisian museum, with one of the world’s most coveted art collections as company

Hayley Skirka
Hayley Skirka

April 04, 2019

  • English
  • Arabic

Like art? Love travel? Well, take note, as the Louvre Museum in Paris is opening for an after-hours sleepover for the person deemed to be Mona Lisa's perfect guest.

The art gallery will turn hotel on April 30 when one visitor and their guest will check in to spend the night under the coveted pyramid structure of one of the world’s most-visited cultural destinations, with welcomes more than 10.2 million guests per year.

Upon arrival, an art historian will guide the pair on a private tour, taking in some of the museum’s most famous works – and following in the footsteps of the likes of famous visitors such as pop duo Jay-Z and Beyonce, and former US president Barack Obama.

The winner deemed to be Mona Lisa's best house guest will get to spend a night at the Louvre. Courtesy Julian-Abrams
The winner deemed to be Mona Lisa's best house guest will get to spend a night at the Louvre. Courtesy Julian-Abrams

Stopping in front of the Mona Lisa, guests will celebrate Leonardo da Vinci's famous belle with a Renaissance-inspired toast. French music played on vinyl will echo throughout the halls, setting the scene for a culinary feast of Parisian fare in a pop-up dining room in the company of Venus of Milo, the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

An intimate concert in Napoleon’s III’s apartments will wrap up the cultural evening, before the pair are escorted to a ‘bedroom’ set under the museum’s iconic Pyramid.

A night of intimate cultural experiences awaits at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Courtesy Julian-Abrams
A night of intimate cultural experiences awaits at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Courtesy Julian-Abrams

“We are happy to offer this unique and special experience for two people to stay in the museum overnight, in a bespoke, pyramid-shaped bedroom," said Anne-Laure Beatrix, deputy managing director of the Musee du Louvre.

"We know that many people would love the opportunity to wander alone at night through the Louvre.”

Get the Louvre all to yourself just like Beyonce, Jay-Z and the Obama family did. Courtesy Julian-Abrams
Get the Louvre all to yourself just like Beyonce, Jay-Z and the Obama family did. Courtesy Julian-Abrams

The event is part of a partnership with Airbnb to celebrate the museum’s 30th anniversary. Other experiences, exclusive visits and intimate events will take place throughout the year, bookable through the accommodation platform.

It would take most visitors about 100 days to see everything the Louvre has to offer but with a whole night to explore and no crowds to contend with, this exclusive sleepover will give two travellers the chance to check-off an impressive number of must-sees including works by El Greco, Theodore Gericault and of course, Leonardo.  Enter at Airbnb until April 12.

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

RESULTS

1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner: Dirilis Ertugrul, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer)
2.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: Kidd Malibu, Sandro Paiva, Musabah Al Muhairi
2.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,000m
Winner: Raakezz, Tadhg O’Shea, Nicholas Bachalard
3.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,200m
Winner: Au Couer, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar
3.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
Winner: Rayig, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
Winner: King’s Shadow, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

Desert Warrior

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Rating: 3/5

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Why your domicile status is important

Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.

Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born. 

UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.

A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.

Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history

- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon

- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.

- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater

- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.  

- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.

- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.

-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.

While you're here
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

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