The new Louvre is a must-see? Broken window smashed by thieves in jewelery robbery worth 88 million euros | Paris

IIt is indeed, in some ways, the newest tourist attraction in Paris. “And to our right,” the guide blared down the road Pato mosh A tourist boat heading towards the Seine River, “The Louvre Museum – and thieves smashed the windows to steal the French Crown Jewels.”

The world’s most visited museum reopened on Wednesday for the first time since a gang of four men stormed the Apollo Gallery on Sunday, stealing Napoleon’s jewels worth €88m (£76m) in France’s most dramatic heist in decades.

Long queues lined up around Place Napoleon, the museum’s vast main courtyard, and the glass pyramid that marks its entrance, as visitors patiently waited for their turn to tour the 33,000 sculptures. Art objectsAnd paintings and drawings.

But outside, across the crowded Quay François Mitterrand from the museum’s grand facade, a smaller but livelier crowd gathered instead on the sidewalk next to the river, staring out a long window partly hidden behind black curtains.

“It’s extraordinary,” said Alida, while visiting Paris with her husband Machel, from Blaricum in the Netherlands. “It seemed like it was so simple. I mean, if that had happened in a movie, people would have said, ‘Wow, that’s a really boring script.’

Two of the thieves, wearing high-visibility jackets as if they were workers, used an extension ladder and furniture lift parked in the street to climb up and break in a window, then used disc cutters to smash through two display cabinets containing the jewelry.

They set off on the back of two waiting motorbikes, carrying eight items, including an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon I had given to his second wife, Marie Louise, and a diamond-encrusted diadem that had previously belonged to Empress Eugenie, Napoleon III’s wife.

“The whole thing is surreal,” said Fanny from Limoges, who is spending the half-term break in the French capital with her husband Vincent and their two children. “You’d think the Louvre, home of the Mona Lisa, should be so protected. But apparently not.”

Vincent pointed out the professionalism of the process. “Look at that facade: literally hundreds of windows,” he said. “They knew exactly which one. They were in and out in about four minutes. They knew what they were doing.”

He said that although it was astonishing, the robbery was not particularly surprising. “It should be almost impossible to fully protect a huge public building like this. Tens of thousands of square metres, and millions of visitors… it’s not easy.”

Additionally, Vincent added that the Louvre was “a historical monument. You can use electronic alarms and video and infrared cameras and whatever you want inside, and they do, but you can’t go and put reinforced steel shutters on all the outside windows.”

Pamela, Tom and Tim, from Philadelphia in the US, were equally impressed by the careful planning. “This was a very professional crime,” Tom said. “Like in a movie, like the Thomas Crown case,” Pamela said. “It’s almost too perfect,” Tim said.

Elena, from Rome, said she understood “how difficult it is to prevent” this type of crime, especially one that was “prepared so carefully, by these determined thieves, and in a huge state-owned building like the Louvre.”

However, she said the theft was “shocking and sad. I’m from Rome, I care about art and antiquities. These historical jewels will most likely be dismantled and sold now, right? No one will buy them whole. This is a tragedy.”

The doors to the Apollo Gallery remained closed on Wednesday, with three gray panels blocking the view and Louvre staff telling visitors to keep moving, while investigators continued to search the room for clues that could lead them to the thieves.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told French media that the investigation was “progressing,” with more than 100 investigators in the case. “I have full confidence that we will find the perpetrators,” he said on Wednesday.

But amid claims that staff and budget cuts had affected security, the Louvre director was due to face questioning from senators later, and French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ordered the improvements to be “accelerated”.

The museum’s landmarks, including the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the winged Triumph of Samothrace, helped attract nearly 9 million people to the Louvre’s wings, halls and galleries last year.

“I’m happy they’re reopening,” Emily said, lining up outside the pyramid with her husband, Marcus, for the midday slot. “We came from Adelaide and made reservations months ago. The theft is very exciting, but we want to see the Mona Lisa.”