This was no typical tour of the Louvre. The instructions entailed sneakers, athletic attire, and an arrival time of 7:45 am, earlier than the opening of most boulangeries and well before tens of thousands of visitors typically descend on the world’s largest and most popular museum.
Some of us showed up in sweats, others in full-on gym ’fits. I couldn’t resist wearing a hoodie from the museum’s 2021 collaboration with Uniqlo designed by Peter Saville. No one knew what to expect, only that we had secured a spot to Courez au Louvre, a one-hour circuit developed by the accomplished, contemporary dancer and choreographer Mehdi Kerkouche.
Given the 400-plus rooms and nearly 73,000-square meters of floor space, you can cover a lot of ground at the Louvre; but it’s really more of a shuffle, arms clutched at one’s sides. In no world would this count as cardio. I fantasized about running through the Grande Galerie like the three young characters in Jean-Luc Godard’s Band à Part (Band of Outsiders), among the greatest of French New Wave films, minus the clacking shoes.
As we milled about—women noticeably outnumbering men, a wide range of ages—it felt as though I’d been training years and years for something like this. On April 24, 2014, I purchased a membership to the museum. Ever since, I have frequented the various departments the way other people schedule time for the gym (you need only scroll through my Instagram feed to confirm the disproportionately high number of Louvre posts).
Kerkouche was unable to make this session, but we were welcomed by two dancers who would be our guides. Towels and water bottles were allowed; smartphones were left behind. We were there to workout, not to pose with Napoléon. Numbering roughly 60, we were split into two groups and would embark on this rarefied fitness class, overseen by four coaches, from opposite directions.
With spring in her step, Fanny led my group on a light jog to the Cour Marly with its monumental sculptures originating from one the many parks belonging to Louis XIV. Back in 2017, Nicolas Ghesquière staged his first of several Louis Vuitton Louvre runways in the exact spot where we were now doing planks and downward dogs with Laure, a yoga instructor.