Carousel du Louvre open early for Louvre tickets?

We will be in Paris on the 13th April and would like to visit the Louvre first thing in the morning.

I%26#39;ve been reading the forum to try to decide whether to buy tickets to the Louvre online. However the costs to post the tickets to Australia are expensive. ( Our exchange rate is dreadful!)

The thought of buying tickets in advance appeals so that we can avoid queues. However, some posts suggest that we can buy our tickets from machines in the Carousel du Louvre and use that entrance whcih doesn%26#39;t have long queues.

My question about this is that we%26#39;d like to enter the Louvre at opening time ( 9am) but I read on a web site that the Carousel du Louvre doesn%26#39;t open till 11am. Is that true? If so, does that mean that we can%26#39;t use the Carousel du Louvre entrance till after 11 am?

I%26#39;ve also read that you can buy tickets at FNAC stores? Our hotel is on the Rue Marsollier, roughly halfway between the Quatre Septembre Metro and the Pyramide Metro , are there any FNAC stores that would be near our Hotel? What time do the FNAC stores open?

Thanks

Andona

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There are quite a few FNAC stores, not necessarily nearby your hotel, though..

FNAC FORUM

Forum des Halles 1-7, Rue Pierre Lescot 75001 PARIS Horaires d%26#39;ouverture : Lundi au Samedi : 10h à 19h30

FNAC CHAMPS-ELYSEES

74, Avenue des Champs-Elysées 75008 PARIS Horaires d%26#39;ouverture : Lundi au Samedi : 10h à 24h

HOWEVER: the Louvre website says all entrances are open at 9:00am, I imagine the Carrousel shops are not open but the museum would be.

%26quot;The Pyramid and Carrousel arcade entrances are open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.%26quot;

www.louvre.fr/llv/pratique/horaires.jsp…

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You can buy your tickets for le Louvre at one of the many machines that are underground by the Louvre entrance/shops. The stores at carrousel du Louvre may not be open but it is like a shopping mall and the common spaces will be open.

You can also enter by the stairs on right and left of arc de triomphe du carrousel that lead to the parking area. Once you are underground you will see the tickets distributors.

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this post reflects confusion over the lines that await one -- it isn%26#39;t tickets one buys in the Carousel BUT a security line that is generally shorter than the main entrance

tickets are then bought under the pyramid -- from booths or machines and I have never in a dozen visits had a long wait there -- often you just walk right up -- other times, there may be a few people in line ahead -- it is the entrance lines, which are security lines that hold one up

we have always used the Carousel entrance and I believe it is open when the museum is -- the pyramid line is often fairly short for the late afternoon/evening entry