The scene one of the most daring heists of modern times has now become a must-see attraction in its own right after crowds flocked at the Louvre to see its smashed window
Paris has a new unlikely tourist attraction — the window used by thieves to rob the Louvre. Crowds have returned to the heist-hit museum and are flocking to its smashed window to see the escape route for themselves.
Some tourists even snapped photos, while others came to check if the window had been repaired, turning the crime scene to a must-see attraction. Parisian student Cheryl Chen captured video of crowds huddled under the infamous window on Tuesday.
She said: “Everyone in Paris is talking about the robbery. Lots of people came just to see the window where the thieves entered. “It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime moment – tourists are now coming here to take photos instead of visiting the Louvre itself.”
The world’s most visited museum reopened on Wednesday for the first time since a gang of four men broke into its Apollo gallery on Sunday, making off with €88m (£76m) worth of Napoleonic jewellery in France’s most dramatic robbery in decades.
The thieves stole priceless crown jewels by using a vehicle-mounted lift to access the Louvre’s second-floor balcony, cutting through a window with power tools to enter the in broad daylight, while the famous museum was open to the public.
Long queues snaked around the museum’s vast main courtyard and the glass pyramid that serves as its entrance as it reopened on Wednesday. The Louvre’s Apollo Gallery, where the heist took place, remained closed.
One Dutch tourist, named only as Alida, told the Guardian: “It just looks like it was so… simple. I mean, if it had happened in a film, people would be saying, ‘Wow, that’s a really boring script’.”
The seven minute smash and grab shocked the world last weekend when a gang of thieves disguised as workmen with power tools nicked the historic jewellery using a disc cutter to enter the gallery, which houses the last of the French crown jewels.
The stolen jewels belonged to the the Napoleon and Empress Joséphine collection including a necklace that belonged to Napoleon’s wife. The brazen thieves then made off on scooters across the French capital.
Astonishing footage has showed them escaping down the cherry picker with their stolen loot. A pair of known “hired gun” robbers were attempting to flee France when they were arrested on suspicion of the heist, police said on Saturday night.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.
#Louvre #heist #window #unexpected #tourist #hotspot #crowds #flock #escape #route
