The Louvre Museum in Paris was closed to the public on Monday when its workers took part in the wave of French protest strikes against the government鈥檚 unpopular pension reform plans.
Dozens of Louvre employees blocked the entrance, prompting the museum to announce it would be temporarily closed.
The demonstrators toted banners and flags in front of the Louvre鈥檚 famed pyramid, where President Emmanuel Macron had celebrated his presidential victory in 2017. They demanded the repeal of the new pension law that raises the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The showbusiness, broadcasting and culture branch of the CGT union tweeted an image of the Mona Lisa with an aged and wrinkled face, with the words: 鈥�64 it鈥檚 a No!鈥�
The action comes on the eve of another nationwide protest planned for Tuesday against the bill 鈥� and as Macron holds a meeting with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to discuss the way forward. The Louvre is always closed on Tuesdays, so staff protested a day earlier.
Some tourists were stoic about the artistic blockade.
鈥淚f you firmly believe that this will bring some change, there鈥檚 plenty of other things that we can see in Paris,鈥� said Britney Tate, a 29-year-old doctoral student from California.
Others who had traveled thousands of miles were more vocal about the inconvenience.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to respect their strike tomorrow, but to do this today, it鈥檚 just heartbreaking,鈥� said Karma Carden, a tourist from Fort Myers, Florida. 鈥淲e knew that Versailles would not be open because of the protest, but we knew the Louvre was open.
鈥淚 understand why they鈥檙e upset, but (it鈥檚 bad) to do this to people from around the world who鈥檝e traveled from around the world for this and paid thousands of dollars,鈥� she added.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
