Will Brits really be charged extra to see France’s Mona Lisa?

She’s one of the most famous paintings in the world and every year tens of thousands of people flock to Paris to visit her – but is it really true that Brits will be charged extra to view the Mona Lisa?

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“Is it normal, for example, for a French visitor to pay the same price for entry to the Louvre as a Brazilian or Chinese visitor?” she pondered.
Dati specified she would like to see “non-EU visitors pay more for their entry tickets, and for the supplemental funds to go toward financing the maintenance and renovation of national heritage sites.”
Since Brexit, this would apply to UK visitors but also visitors from all other non-EU countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and many, many more.
Of these two proposals, the Notre-Dame entrance fee sparked by far the biggest controversy in France, with many people furious at the idea of paying to visit the cathedral when it reopens in December, five years after the devastating fire in 2019.

Dati has already rowed back slightly on that by clarifying that it would still be free to visit the cathedral for religious services.
And will this actually happen?
This isn’t, at this stage, a formal proposal – Dati seems to have been floating the idea via an interview with a friendly newspaper, as politicians are wont to do.
She also has form for using the media to float policy ideas and is currently locked in conflict with the Paris mayor’s office over whether the Eiffel Tower should be taken under national government control.
The three landmarks that she mentioned – the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay and Versailles – are all state-owned attractions, so technically the government does have the power to change the funding model. They are not the only ones, and in fact most of Paris’ best-known museums and galleries are owned by the state.

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None of these are currently free and are in fact quite pricey – a standard adult ticket to the Louvre is now €22.
However, the museum reports that in fact less than half of its visitors pay the full price – 40 percent of visitors qualify for totally free entry, while others are eligible for discounts on the standard price.
And there is already an advantage to EU citizens – since April, 2009, free access to the permanent collections of French national museums has been granted to young EU nationals under the age of 26, and non-EU nationals who are resident in France or another EU country.
Eligible visitors have to present proof of nationality (passport or ID card) or of residency (long-stay visa or residency card) at the ticket desk.
READ ALSO Do you qualify for free entry to French museums?

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Headlines in the UK media report that “Brexit set to cost UK citizens more to see Mona Lisa”, while the UK’s culture minister has also got involved.
Culture minister Chris Bryant tweeted: “Hi there France. Fully understand the problem with financing cultural heritage but I hear you’re thinking of premium charging non-EU visitors to the Louvre. UK national galleries and museums like the British Museum and National Gallery are FREE to all. You’re welcome. Je vous en prie.”
So what’s going on?
The report is based on an interview that French culture minister Rachida Dati gave to Le Figaro newspaper last week – in the interview she proposed that visitors to Notre-Dame cathedral should be charged €5 when it reopens in December (currently it is free) and that non-EU visitors should pay more to visit some of France’s biggest tourist attractions including the Louvre (which houses the Mona Lisa), the Musée d’Orsay and the Palace of Versailles.
“Is it normal, for example, for a French visitor to pay the same price for entry to the Louvre as a Brazilian or Chinese visitor?” she pondered.
Dati specified she would like to see “non-EU visitors pay more for their entry tickets, and for the supplemental funds to go toward financing the maintenance and renovation of national heritage sites.”
Since Brexit, this would apply to UK visitors but also visitors from all other non-EU countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and many, many more.
Of these two proposals, the Notre-Dame entrance fee sparked by far the biggest controversy in France, with many people furious at the idea of paying to visit the cathedral when it reopens in December, five years after the devastating fire in 2019.
Dati has already rowed back slightly on that by clarifying that it would still be free to visit the cathedral for religious services.
And will this actually happen?
This isn’t, at this stage, a formal proposal – Dati seems to have been floating the idea via an interview with a friendly newspaper, as politicians are wont to do.
She also has form for using the media to float policy ideas and is currently locked in conflict with the Paris mayor’s office over whether the Eiffel Tower should be taken under national government control.
The three landmarks that she mentioned – the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay and Versailles – are all state-owned attractions, so technically the government does have the power to change the funding model. They are not the only ones, and in fact most of Paris’ best-known museums and galleries are owned by the state.
None of these are currently free and are in fact quite pricey – a standard adult ticket to the Louvre is now €22.
However, the museum reports that in fact less than half of its visitors pay the full price – 40 percent of visitors qualify for totally free entry, while others are eligible for discounts on the standard price.
And there is already an advantage to EU citizens – since April, 2009, free access to the permanent collections of French national museums has been granted to young EU nationals under the age of 26, and non-EU nationals who are resident in France or another EU country.
Eligible visitors have to present proof of nationality (passport or ID card) or of residency (long-stay visa or residency card) at the ticket desk.
READ ALSO Do you qualify for free entry to French museums?

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