The big Apple in Paris

iPhone users should download the new Louvre app asap....it's free right now but my hunch tells me it'll follow in the National Gallery's footsteps and join the realm of paid apps...so download now!

The app's recent launch coincided with the opening of France's first Apple store. For anyone who has visited Apple's Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York, the French edition is appropriately located in the Carrousel du Louvre...under I.M. Pei's (in)famous pyramid--the New York store is below street level, accessible through an above-ground glass cube that is reminiscent (if not a shameless rip-off) of the Louvre's controversial glass pyramid that has become a Parisian landmark. It thus seems both fitting and weird that the Paris apple store is also located under a large glass, geometric structure. Now all they need is to smack a big Apple (no pun intended) logo on the pyramid to match the New York version and we'll be perfectly in sync (also no pun intended).

As far as the app goes, it's very pretty, with lots of sparkly, high quality pictures. A (very small) handful of the collection's icons are featured with information about the works' content, history, and technical execution. There is also an option for "more detail" which allows the user to zoom (though the zoom is frusteratingly limited). The app also features several videos, including a tour of the museum, the palace, and videos about the artworks; unfortunately, the videos are all narrated in French, which may seem obvious, but the English text that accompanies the rest app is misleading and makes the French narration unexpected. Hopefully subtitles will be added or there will be English options for the videos. Until then, the images and music that accompany the videos are pretty satisfying.