Visiting the Louvre - There's an App for That!

PARIS — Not only is there an App for just about everything, there's just about everything in the Louvre museum Carrousel shopping center. Thus, on Saturday, Apple opened its first retail store in France (the 277th in ten countries), underneath the Tuileries garden and great glass pyramid in the Louvre.

In addition to upscale shops and a gourmet food court - at least until the McDonald's arrives in December - the new Apple store will be competing with Microsoft's Windows 7 Cafe which opened there just two weeks ago.

Along with a horde of museum guests, dozens of employees sporting bright red shirts printed with the Apple logo did a countdown en français to the opening of the store's doors. The classy two-story Apple store will offer Macs, iPods and iPhones.

If you can't get to Paris, you can always download the newly launched Louvre App - free for iPhone and iPod touch users. The Louvre App allows virtual guests to wander the galleries of the magnificent Louvre museum and browse a selection of fine art accompanied by commentaries, close-ups, details and video. The App also provides practical information about the museum such as hours, maps and services.

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Read More - Big Macs to Join Mona Lisa at the Louvre | Reuters 
[Photos: Top - Apple store at the Louvre Museum | Right - Detail of Louvre App]

Visiting the Louvre - There's an App for That!

The Louvre Will Offer Mona Lisa...and McDonald's? Sacre Bleu!

A McDonald's at the prestigious Louvre Museum? Oh Mon Dieu! The impending construction is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of refined Parisian palates. But since fast food restaurants are practically all over the place, it was likely only a matter of time before Mona Lisa met Ronald McDonald.

PARIS /NPR/ -- French culture and American convenience will come together in Paris soon: McDonald's plans to open a restaurant in the forecourt of the Louvre art museum in December. But the idea is meeting with sharp criticism from the French art community.

With its vaulted ceilings and polished, granite walls, the upscale shopping mall beneath the museum — known as Le Carrousel du Louvre — has the same I.M. Pei architecture as the museum. The mall almost feels like an extension of the Louvre itself, and that's partially why the idea of a McDonald's there is ruffling feathers.

Officials from the Louvre are assuring critics that a quality McCafe will be positioned in the underground approach to its entrance. The restaurant will represent the American segment of a new food court featuring world cuisines and coffee shops.

France is McDonald's biggest market after the United States, but many in France see the fast-food chain as the Trojan horse of globalization and the scourge of the traditional French meal.

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[Read More - Big Macs to Join Mona Lisa at the Louvre | NPR]

The Louvre Will Offer Mona Lisa...and McDonald's? Sacre Bleu!