Ninety seconds on Fondation Louis Vuitton
Both the art and the building are worth the trip: after the galleries, you climb out onto terraces among Frank Gehry’s curved glass, high above the Bois de Boulogne.
Frank Gehry wrapped the building in twelve glass sails, curved panels carried on a wood and steel frame that rises 46 metres. He took his cue from the glass Grand Palais and from the Palmarium, a glass house built for the Jardin d’Acclimatation next door in 1893. From the entrance the whole thing reads as a sailboat under way.
Under the glass sits the Iceberg, the core that holds the galleries, clad in a white fibre-reinforced concrete. Its eleven galleries come in different sizes and shapes, set loosely rather than stacked like boxes, under large skylights. Walking through, you never quite know what shape the next room will be.
The collection rotates through galleries on four levels, alongside temporary shows by leading contemporary artists. Check what is on before you book. Above the Iceberg, a viewing terrace, part open and part enclosed, puts you inside the sails with panoramas across Paris.
Fondation Louis Vuitton runs on timed tickets, so book your slot online before you go, above all for a major exhibition or a weekend, when slots sell out. Arrive about half an hour before the time on your ticket and join the line for that slot. Security is airport-style through a single scanner, and it is the slow part of arriving.
Once inside, follow the stairs through the galleries, then keep climbing to the roof terraces, where the sails close round you and the park spreads out below.
The foundation runs short tours of the building’s architectural highlights, worth joining if the sails are why you came. For the exhibitions, you can do the visit on your own with the foundation’s app, which explains the works. A premium ticket can add an audio guide app with self-guided tours and a return shuttle from Place Charles de Gaulle, so check what yours includes when you book.
Weekday mornings, in the first hour after opening, are the quietest time to visit. Weekends are busier, with families heading for the children’s park next door. Eat before you go in, since food, water and other liquids are not allowed inside, or reserve a table ahead at the restaurant in the building.
If you have children with you, the Jardin d’Acclimatation next door waives its standard entry for foundation visitors, though the rides are extra.
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