Episode 15 - The Louvre Heist of the Crown Jewels

It was 6 months ago, on October 19, 2025, on a Sunday morning in Paris, that a brazen heist of the French Crown jewels struck the  Musée du Louvre.  

In this week’s episode of the Paris in Bleu Blonde Rouge podcast, we go deep into the details of the theft, the history of the stolen jewels, where they are in the investigation, and what has changed at the Louvre. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Bonjour, bonjour, and welcome to episode 15 of Paris in Blue Blanc Rouge. It is today is Tuesday, April 21st, and I want to share today all the details that we know so far on the heist of the century that happened at the Louvre. It was six months ago on Sunday, on Sunday, April 19th. And it's been a crazy six months. It feels much longer than that. But there's a few things that have come out as far as the investigation. Hopefully, there's news out there that we don't know yet. They keep things pretty close to the vest here in Paris as far as investigation. So we don't know yet, but trust me, I look at least three times a day on every new major news source here in France, uh, radio, TV, newspaper, everything. I'm constantly looking. I have Google alerts set up to the prosecutor. I have everything that I'm trying to find. And uh I posted a video the other day and my friend said, Oh my gosh, I thought you were saying that it was discovered. And I was like, Oh my friend, you would have gotten a phone call from me screaming and yelling in excitement if that was the case. But um, hopefully we do get them back at some point someday. And uh, you know, maybe, you know, if we do, can you just stop by my apartment and just let me wear around the necklaces and the TR just for a few minutes before it goes back to the Louvre? That's that's all I ask. Um, but we'll jump in into all of these details. If you listen to last week's episode, it was all about the timeline and the investigation into the fire of Notre Dame, which was seven years ago last week. So these kind of fell back to back. And uh there's just a lot of striking similarities in the lead up to it. But honestly, it probably anything that's gonna be in a major uh monument or you know, business or anything like that, there's probably gonna be a lot of ways that you could point fingers to things ahead of time. But I'm gonna give you all the details and more on the jewels and everything. But as I said, it was six months ago and it was on October 19th, 2025. It was a Sunday morning in Paris that the brazen heist of the French crown jewels struck the Musee de Louvre. In this episode, I'm gonna go deep into the details of the theft, the history of the stolen jewels, where they are in the investigation, and what has changed at the Louvre. So let's get into the actual timeline. And it's really great with the investigation. They have been able to track the movements with CCTV cameras, both public and private, to be able to get their moves ahead of time and after, and I'm sure there's way more, as I said, way more information than they are releasing. But on October 19th, it was exactly 7:37 a.m. in the north of Paris, while most people were still asleep, that the four thieves began orchestrating their crime of the century. Two suspects left the town of Auberville in the Saint-Saint-Denis region, both wearing helmets. One was driving a Bergman scooter, the other at the wheel of a white Citrion Berlingot utility vehicle. The two drove to Ivry-sur-Saint and parked the van on the quay along the Seine and returned the motors on the motorcycle together to Aubervier. At 8 30 AM, back in Auberville, the Bergman scooter leaves, followed by the Nisselle lift truck and heads to Bercy in the 12th. The third member on a BMW high power scooter travels from Auberville to Ponton, abandons a BMW, jumps on a Yamaha scooter driven by the fourth man. All four take different routes, obeying the speed limits and all the traffic signals. At 9 10 AM, they all meet at the Avenue de Terroir de France in Bercy and then head to the Louvre. The Naselle and the two scooters travel along the quay of the left bank past Notre Dame, the Fontaine Saint-Michel, the Pont des Arts, and finally turning right on the Pont Royal. Captured on CC TV cameras, the grainy images were released by TF1 News showing the four thieves calmly driving down the streets of Paris. With one scooter in front and one behind the truck, they drove alongside the Louvre as they headed to the scene of the crime. At 9 30 a.m., they arrived below the petite gallery, built in the 16th century as a connection from the King's Pavilion of the Palais de Louvre to the Palais des Tuileries. The two on the motorcycle block the light traffic on the Cay Francois Mitterrand and place orange cones around the truck to add to the illusion that they're construction workers. Over the next three minutes, the driver of the truck turns around and parks on the sidewalk facing the oncoming traffic. At 9 34 a.m., two thieves we will come to know as Abdullah N wearing a yellow vest and Aid G dressed in black and wearing a gray helmet, hop onto the flat lift of the truck intended for furniture, not for people. On the ground, Rashid operates a lift, taking them to the balcony of the gallery d'Apanon. At 9.34 and 11 seconds, the thieves attack the lower right window with a large angle saw and trigger alarm number 13 that rings out at a command post and not allowed in the room or outside the building. At 9 35 AM, the two quickly enter through the window. I.E.G. the gray helmeted thief pretends to rush towards the guards at the door of the Salon Claret. The guards quickly get the visitors out of the jewel box of a room and one of them places a first radio call to the office as the thieves run to the first case. At 9 35 and 11 seconds, the alarm of the first case of the jewels of Empress Eugenie rings within the room as Abdulai in the yellow vest attempts to cut a large rectangular hole in the case. The case fights back, and it takes several passes with the saw and a few hard blows of the shoulder to get inside. He violently grabs the beautiful bow brooch, then the true crown jewel, the reliquary brooch, crushes the Imperial Crown and jumps a bit to reach the tiara. The only saving grace was that the pearl and diamond brooch was left behind, which he wasn't able to reach. At 9 35 and 20 seconds, IEG with a second saw attacks the south end of the central case. The alarm rings out, but he has trouble breaking into the case. At 9 36 AM, the Ramses button, which is connected to the Ministry of the Interior, is called. Agents were at the door of the Salon Carré. One even tries to advance towards the thieves with a stanchion pole and then is called back. At 9 37, internal theft procedures 33 is initiated and all doors are closed. Many doors automatically released and shut. At 9 37, Abdulai has now finished the destruction of the first case. He goes to help his friend at the second. He quickly smashes through the glass and grabs the emeralds and sapphires. The pearl drops of Josephine are just out of reach. At 938, they began fleeing in a panic. Abdul is in the yellow vest, dropping a few of the jewels and a glove, and stopped to pick up the gems but left the glove behind. At 938, they flee out the same window they entered and ride down the lift to the awaiting scooters. The thieves said they handed the jewels to the awaiting drivers as soon as they reached the ground. On foot, the Louvre security agents run down the quay, causing the thieves to flee and preventing them from setting fire to the lift in evidence, much to the advantage of the investigation. While the two thieves were inside, one of them punctured the gas tank below. Security agents arrived at the overwhelming smell of gas, discarded blowtors, circular saws, helmet, vest, and gloves, all covered with DNA. All four are now on two scooters speeding away from the crime scene. If you have been to Paris, you know how the motorcycles bob and weave through the traffic, even as cars are at a standstill, including a police car that was not far behind. They head back to the quay in Ivri Sorce where the white van is waiting. They separate it into two groups, two on scooters and two in a van with two rotating beacons on top. All go in separate directions. At 10 27 AM, the two scooters with Abdelie N, who violently ripped the jewels from the cases in the gallery d'Apalon, and the getaway driver, Simon Kay, were seen entering an underground parking lot of an apartment building on the Rue Leopard Rechaussier. Not realizing there was a camera, the two thieves could be seen pulling out part of the stolen jewels and passing them to each other. Officials who view the video note that not all eight pieces appeared to be there, and they were also holding a large jewel that seemed to be missing. The van was lost in Vicienne in the west of Paris, but at 1120 AM, it returned to the parking structure with Aid G, who and the other Apollo intruder and the getaway driver Rashid. Aid attempted to hide the scooters and they removed the orange lights from the van. By 10 45 in the morning, the news began spreading across social media and every French news site. I had been visiting the Basilique Saint-Denis with a friend that morning, and we returned to walk around the Ile de la Cite when I happened to look at my phone and a message from a friend asking if I had seen the news. I opened Instagram and the first thing that came up was a theft. At first I thought the jewels in the gift shop were what had been stolen. How could they possibly steal the crown jewels? I headed straight to the Louvre. The latter truck could be seen from blocks away. Even watching the police working the crime scene and the numerous news cameras already in place, it was still unbelievable. Hours later, the worst news arrived. The Ministry of Culture released the full list of items stolen. It's unknown whether the specific items stolen were targeted or if they just happened to be in the two closest cases to the window. Eight pieces that once belonged to a queen and two empresses of France. The first case contained the pieces that belonged to the last Empress of France, Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III. The reliquary brooch of Empress Eugenie is the only piece of the stolen lute that can also link itself back to Louis XIV. In the Rocaille style of Louis XV, and it was inspired by an 18th-century brooch created by Paul Alfred Bast. It's called the reliquary brooch in name only and may have once been intended to hold a relic of a saint for the very pious Empress. The backside of the brooch is engraved with a floral motif. Just under the pin, the word reliquary adds to the confusion. Napoleon III ordered this along with three other designs by BAPS for the 1855 Universal Exposition, created using 94 diamonds, some of which were purchased for the design and many from the crown collection. The two rose cut diamonds in the center pointed end to end are the most historic. After Mazarin's death on March 9, 1661, his entire collection of diamonds was given to Louis XIV with the caveat that they must be called the Mazarin diamonds. Many were recut and used in the settings of the royal gems. Originally one large diamond, it was split into two even 21 carats and known as the Mazarin 17 and 18. Many of the jewels were stolen in 1792 and most were recovered only to be sold off in 1887. Two events we're going to go into detail coming up in the next few months, making the two held in the reliquary brooch that much more special. These diamonds were worn by Louis XIV in the buttonhole of his jacket, on the handle of the sword of Louis XVI, on a belt for Empress Josephine, in the Baldric buckle of Napoleon, and in many other settings. The almond-shaped diamond below has a perfect twin at one point, each over 15 carats and had been worn by Marie Antoinette as earrings and by Louis XIV in a button. The lower diamond in a casket shaped with a slightly brown color. Of the eight pieces stolen, this might be the hardest to come to terms with. It's stunning in design from the historic diamonds to the engraved gold setting. Wherever they are today, I hope they are at least being appreciated for the beauty they hold. And this is the only piece of jewelry that you can consider at the actual crown jewels of France. The other ones aren't. We just use that term to kind of cover all of them, but this reliquary brooch was the only piece that included crown jewels. The gorgeous pearl and diamond tiara of Empress Eugenie until six months ago sat perfectly perched in a glass case under the gilded ceiling of Gallery d'Apallon. It was created for Eugenie by Alexander Gabrielle Le Monnier, who was also made making the Imperial Crown, which was luckily recovered. Commissioned in 1853, shortly after the wedding to Napoleon III, designed using many of the crown pearls from a tiara that once belonged to the Duchess of D'Angoulême. Le Monier's contemporary design of the time features natural elements, including diamond covered leaves, 17 pear-shaped pearls, totaling 212 pearls and 1,998 diamonds. Eugenie wore it often, including at the opening of the 1855 Universal Exhibition, where her other jewels, including the imperial crown, were on display. While the tiara is gone, we can still see Empress Eugenie wearing it in the large portrait by Pierre Deseret Guillamet, painted in 1857 and copied from the original by Franz Wittehaller, which hangs in the Apartement Napoleon Trois at the Louvre. In 1855, the imperial couple visited Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle, a moment captured by Edward Ward with Eugenie in her tiara. A beautiful 1860 bust of the Empress by Georges Diabo, located in the small garden in Monaco, surrounded by flowers, and she's looking at the sea. The tiara was part of the sale of the crown jewels of France on May 12, 1887, to jeweler Julius Jacobi, who sold it to Prince Albert of Tarn and Texis for over 100 years, remained in the family until it was sold by Sotheby's in 1992 and purchased by the Amy de Louvre. One of the most other jaw-dropping items was the Grand Corsage bow brooch of Eugenie. Napoleon III ordered these pieces from Francois Cremer, also for the Universal Exhibition. However, the piece was originally designed as a belt with a bow and tassels and a staggering 4,790 diamonds, totaling 386 carats. Eugenie loved the history of Marie Antoinette and the bow was designed to emulate the former queen's love of bows and ribbons. Worn by the Empress for Queen Victoria's visit on August 25th, 1855, she would later have it altered into the corsage bow that we know. The bow would attach to the boss of a dress and the tassels hanging down to her waist would be reduced to 2,438 diamonds and 196 rose cut diamonds. The bow was part of the sale of the more than 77,000 crown jewels in 1877 and was purchased for Caroline Astor and passed through the many hands until purchased on April 16, 2008, by the Amida Louvre with a large bequest from Mr. and Mrs. Rafier. The second case held the jewels that had belonged to another queen. Marie Amalie de Bourbon-Sicelle was born on April 26, 1782, in the Kingdom of Naples. She was one of the 18 children of King Ferdinand of Naples and Queen Marie Caroline of Austria, sister of Marie Antoinette. On November 28, 1809, she married Louis-Philippe Duc d'Orleans and the last king of the French, he liked to be called, from 1830 to 1848. Marie Amelie never met her aunt Marie Antoinette or her husband, Louis XVI, but after their deaths in 1793, she had a fear of dying a violent death. She rarely wore jewelry or did anything that would appear as outlandish or showy. As her husband decided to be the king of the French and more a man of the people, she also wanted to be the anti Marie Antoinette. I mean, really. Napoleon was very fond of and close to his adopted daughter, and he married her off to his brother Louis Napoleon. She wasn't thrilled about this idea. In 1814, when Napoleon went into his first exile and the Empire fell, Hortense fled France and took her jewelry with her. Hortense acquired many jewels from her mother and her husband's family. When times are tight, she would sell off pieces to support herself and her two remaining sons. In 1821, Louis Philippe was flushed with cash and purchased a large set of sapphire jewelry from Hortense for 160,000 francs, a gift to his wife, Queen Marie Amelie, who had the settings changed, including reducing the size of the tiara. The set remained in the Orleans family until July 3rd, 1985, when purchased by the Amy de Louvre. Forty-four sapphires surrounded by more than 2,500 diamonds and six pieces that glisten in the light. The Celion sapphires were not heated, so the blue is a tad lighter than the deep sapphires you see in current jewelry. On Sunday, October 19th, the thieves took the tiara necklace and one earring, but left the three brooches behind and another set of earrings. At the south end of the middle case where they cut right into the glass, next to the sapphires was a stunning collar of diamond and emeralds, which was one of my very favorites. Napoleon's first wife, Josephine, was unable to produce the all-important heir to the throne, and they were divorced in 1809. Napoleon was on the hunt for a new wife. He wanted to marry the Grand Duchess Anna Pavlova of Russia, sister of Tsar Alexander I, but she was promised as someone else. Instead, he chose the Vienna Archduchess Marie Louise, the daughter of Archduke Francis of Vienna. The grand niece of Marie Antoinette had spent many years despising the French for the death of her aunt during the French Revolution. But the deal was set, and on March 11, 1810, Napoleon and Marie Louise were married by proxy, with her uncle standing in for the emperor. A few weeks later, she arrived in France and met Napoleon at Compignier on April 2nd. The two traveled to Paris for their wedding at the Louvre in the Salon Carré, steps away from where this necklace once was. Napoleon wanted to shower his new bride with gifts and jewels and commissioned two sets from his personal jeweler, Francois Nito. Ten large Colombian pear-shaped drop emeralds were purchased by Nito specifically for this piece and chosen by the Emperor for their exquisite quality. They are suspended in a diamond frame and surrounded by 1,138 diamonds, which are 874 brilliant cut and 264 rose cut, which is one of the oldest cuts going back to the 16th century. Beloved but rarely seen today is cut with a flat base and a rounded top with the facets that give the illusion of a rose. Matching earrings rounded out the initial set that later also included tiara, comb, and belt plaque. They remained in the Empress's collection until they were passed to her cousin after her death in 1847 and eventually found their way to the American heiress Margie Merryweather Post in 1953 after being purchased by Van Clef and Arpelle in 2004. They were acquired by the Louvre where they remained before the theft. The tiara, also in the Margie Meriwether Post collection, was replaced the emeralds with turquoise and later gave it to the Smithsonian DC, where it is still today. As the thieves fled the gallery d'Apalon, Abdoulay dropped the Imperial crown of Empress Eugenie in the ditch below the street. The crown had been crushed as it was pulled from its base, leaving it heavily damaged. The imperial crowns were created in 1855 for the exhibition. What makes this crown so special is that the Emperor's crown was dismantled in 1887. Both crowns were created by Le Monnier, working with sculptor Auguste and Joseph Fannier on the eight eagle ribbons of the Imperial Coat of Arms, comprised of 1,354 diamonds, 1,136 rose cut diamonds, and 56 emeralds in exquisite detail. One of the eight diamond-encrusted palmettes fell off in the gallery d'Apannon and was recovered, but one of the imperial eagles is missing. Of the 1,354 diamonds, a dozen of the small stones along the band are missing. After the theft, many of the French historic jewelry houses reach out to the Louvre for assistance. After a thorough investigation, the Imperial Crown can be restored. An advisory committee of Louvre officials, including Anne Dion, the deputy director of the Aube d'Ar Department, and they will decide between the houses of Chaumet, Cartier, Boucheron, Vancouf, and Arpel of who will restore it. Back to our timeline on October twenty second at 10 PM, Rashid and Slimin K return to the parking lot and are seen on camera with a wave detector checking for cameras. They suddenly cover their faces. On the night of October 23rd, the first scooter leaves, followed by a van, and a second scooter leaves on October twenty fifth. The two return frequently to the parking garage until October 30th, were the jewels hidden there the entire time? On Wednesday, October 22nd, back at the Louvre, the remaining jewels and precious pieces were removed and placed in the French bank on October 24th. At 9 a.m. on Monday, October 20th, the day after the theft, a general staff assembly was called to address the incident. The director and president of the Louvre, Laurence Descartes, appeared on stage and was loudly booed by the audience. Since June, the staff has been quite upset and have gone on strike a few times with a total closure in June and many late openings. In previous years, security staffing had been cut numerous times. Staff were told not to talk to the press or anyone about the theft. Directors had to sign a letter in support of the president of the Louvre. After the theft for weeks, three to four members was to stand in front of the rotunda outside the gallery d'Apelon that still remains closed. The investigation into the crime began immediately. They gathered 189 pieces of evidence, including DNA at the scene. Over the next hours and days, they tracked the thieves' movements in the moments before and after the theft, piecing together the locations and timeline that led to their arrest. The crime began on October 10th when the Nesselle truck was stolen from an owner in Loura in the Valdois region. They threatened the owner to know where the tracker was. And have it removed. Six days after the theft on October 25th, around 11 p.m., the first arrests were made. Found from the DNA evidence and watched for days after the arrest, one was arrested on his way to Charles de Gaulle to flee to Algeria. Both have numerous past crimes. The 39-year-old Abdulai N cut into the window to enter the gallery and left his DNA on the window and tossed his yellow vest on the street as they fled. He's known on social medias as Dudu Cross Batum for his YouTube Moto Rodeos and teaching weight training to kids. He was well liked by his neighbors and always helpful. All were very tight-lipped after the arrest, but he did commit to cutting through the window, but he just didn't know it was the Louvre. Aed G, 34 years old, Franco-Algerian, was identified by the hair found in a motorcycle helmet. He was at Charles de Gaulle for a flight to Algeria and was quickly arrested. He claims he was approached the day before the crime. Four days later on October 29th at 9.05 p.m., four suspects were arrested while in line at the Jean Bois Stadium for the Paris FC versus Lyon football match. Three were released the next morning, but Slimane K, one of the getaway drivers. At the same time, a fifth suspect, the wife of Sliman, was arrested at her home in Le Cornoveau in Saint-Saint-Denis. Her DNA was found in the truck and on the lift. She was later released, but still under judicial control. When Slim K was arrested, a small key was found in his pocket. With assistance from phone records and the connection to the Wi-Fi router, investigators were led to a bicycle storage room behind his wife's apartment. This small room had been transformed into a workbench where investigators found beacon detectors, wave jammers, a disc saw, locksmith tools, and a touchstone used to test gold. The last arrest came on November 25th with Rashid was the second high-power scooter driver with quite a past. His crimes include being a pimp and serving time in 2021. Wiretapping his construction vehicle revealed him talking to his sister, saying he thought he was being followed by the police since the 19th. After the theft, he hid several times at the apartment of a former prostitute in Paris until he took a construction job in Laval, where he thought he could hide out, arrested at Airbnb along with three others that were later released. Rashid might have been the more seasoned thief of the crew. He was the only one who knew how to use the Naselle and also had a license to operate it. Police uncovered a large network of what they call war phones, which we would probably call burner phones, that led them to the many locations and tied the five together. The phones were used in and around the Louvre on September 22nd, 23rd, and 29th. And in the theft of the Nash, when setting up a meeting spot, all four men arrested were familiar with each other. They are all still in custody and formally charged, and in January appeared before an investigative judge for a week, but remained silent on any information we have been given on the situation. From the moment the heist hit the media, the world was captivated. How could such a brazen crime happen in the light of day in the biggest museum of the world? It was also the nature of such an old-fashioned heist, like a scene from Ocean 11 that added to the notoriety. Since that day, the Louvre has been fighting an uphill battle. Internally, it has been a disaster with one embarrassing mishap after another. Investigations by the National Assembly, the Senate, and the Court of Auditors uncovered details that are reminiscent of the lead up to the fire of Notre Dame. On October 28th, the Senate Cultural Committee visited the Louvre, walking through the crime scene and through the security nerve center. Initial reports stated that they were shocked by what they saw and how outdated the security system was. Many improvements needed to be made, they said. It was a report that was uncovered in the years before the heist and had the most shocking information. In July 2007, the CESG company specializing in private security was mandated by Marc Brascot, director of the Auger d'Ar Department, an audit of the Gallery d'Apellon. Its findings rated the space as high risk for intrusion for theft of works of art and vulnerability among French windows. The jewels are too close to the window and should be moved to another part of the museum. Again, 2007. In 2018, an investigation by Van Cleef and Arpel revealed even more shocking information. The Paris Prefect initiated all luxury brands in the city center to look for any vulnerabilities for theft. The director Jean-Luc Martinez at the time ordered an audit carried out by the Van Cleef Safety and Security Department. A two-page document with three visual diagrams that highlighted the balcony's vulnerability mentioned that the video cameras do not completely cover the balcony. Again, 2018. The morning of the theft, Laurence Descartes asked for any and all documents regarding the gallery. It was then that this document was uncovered. On October 24th, she said that she had never seen the document before the theft. The National Assembly looked into who had seen the report and its details. Only eight people received this report in 2018. The Louvre's copy was locked away in a quote unquote hidden closet. Weeks before the theft on August 29th, the Prefecture of Paris alerted the management of the Louvre that all the means dedicated to security is outdated and unsuitable for the premises. Continuing that the command post has obsolete furniture and computers and screens, non-compliance software, including analog. Another thing that came up a lot right after the theft was about the cases that held the jewels themselves. After the report from Van Cleef, the restoration of the Apollo gallery had started in March 2019 and finished in January 2020. This is mostly for the walls and the ceiling. The one change they did make was the cases holding the jewels. The current cases were installed in 2019 with the help of Cartier and used very thick, bulletproof glass that could withstand almost any attack. It was later revealed that the firefighter manual stated that any emergency entry into the cases had to be made with a circular saw like the one used. Many think that leads to insider information, but the multiple thefts in the months leading up to the Louvre, including the robbery of the National History Museum in the Jardin de Plains, also used circular saws to steal multiple large gold nuggets. A majority of the jewels that we find in the Gallery d'Apalon arrived at the Louvre after 1985. In the 1950s, the gems filled into one case. A large rectangular console with a special feature that allowed the display tray to slide down into a safe and be locked below. The system was attached to a timer set to the museum's opening and closing times. Vibration and hard drops of the shelves became too dangerous and could damage the precious jewels. It was updated in the 1980s with a new, smoother cylinder and sidewalls that slid up and down on timers, but eventually had mechanical issues that threatened the jewels. The mention of these cases had circulated in the advent of the theft, but they didn't allow for sudden drops if the case was broken, which some people said. It was only possible if an agent unlocked and flipped a switch within the case. In 2019, it was decided they need to be redone since the collection had grown. Prior to 2019, the Empress Eugenie's jewels were hidden in a hallway case just past the Napoleon III rooms. On November 6th, the heavily anticipated Court of Auditors report was released as a first-class funeral for the Louvre, covering the period of 2018 to 2024 and split between the governance of Jean-Luc Martinez and Laurence Descartes. A triple flaw, they said, a lack of perimeter protection, aging equipment, and the lack of importance on security. Most cameras are not digital. The prefect authorizes the use and installation of cameras every five years. The Louvre outdoor cameras expired on July 17, 2025, and the Louvre had yet to renew the license. In five years, only 138 cameras were added, despite 323 million euros for an operational budget. They also looked into the Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance project that would have created a new entrance on the eastern end of the Louvre and a new space for the Mona Lisa as well as a large exhibition space. The original cost was estimated at over 800 million euros. The Court of Auditors found it was going to be closer to 1.5 billion. The recommendation that this project be set aside and that the money be used for the upgrade of the technical infrastructure, including security and restoration of the palace. The National Assembly and the Senate launched investigations that called Rashida Dati, the Minister of Culture, and Laurence Descartes to be questioned by government officials on multiple occasions. Lawrence defiantly said she had done all she could and that security was a focus, but that doesn't exactly ring true. 87 million euros was spent on maintenance and restoration of the palace, and 169 million committed to the mesography and acquisition of works. The Louvre experienced significant delays in bringing its technical infrastructure up to standard. In 2023, Laurence launched a process to develop a master plan for urgent and short-term renovations scheduled over 10 years. The Denal wing was not in the priority zone of this plan. Between 2018 and 2024, the Louvre spent$145 million to acquire 2,754 pieces, twice the amount allocated by the Ministry of Culture. Less than one in four of those works has been exhibited since the arrival. Louvre said only 488 works are even intended for regular display. The Renaissance project has now been shelved and pushed away. The chosen architect was supposed to be announced on February 11th, but with that was pushed off and then finally delayed indefinitely. Since the theft, every Monday, the staff under the pyramid holds a General Assembly meeting before it opens. On December 15th, the official call to strike was declared, and meetings disrupted the entire week. Visitors arriving on Mondays in January were met with closure signs and confusion. In one day, the Louvre loses 400,000 euros in ticket sales alone. They had a long list of complaints, including the need for more staffing and training, and had they been listened to, the theft might have been avoided. The director Laurence Descartes submitted her resignation on February 24th, and since then the strike talk and disturbances have quieted. Dominique Bouffin was appointed the Deputy Director of Security on January 3rd, 2024, by Laurence, was quietly out of a job after the arrival of the new director, Christophe Loribeau. The former director of ResIn Orsay has a track record of addressing major issues quickly. The Louvre is a massive structure and historic monument that comes with many rules, committees, and ministries that govern any changes. It's not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination. I have heard from those inside the Louvre that the gallery d'Apelon will be reopened to the public at some point this summer. The remaining jewels were removed already, and the few hundred small and fragile crystal and hearthstone pieces will also be removed before it is reopened. I can't wait for that day, but we'll hold our breath to see if when that happens. But the case is still ongoing. Hopefully, when uh they they're actually taken to court, we start to get a little bit more information. But that who knows when that could be. Usually it's years from now. If you look at the the crime against uh Kim Kardashian when she her jewels were stolen, it took nine years before that came to court. But you had COVID and other things in the middle of that. So hopefully we don't have to wait that long and we get some information, but they still have not identified or found the orchestrator of this crime, or of course, the jewels. But make sure you follow me on everything on social media on Instagram, Claudia and Blue Blonde Rouge, uh, same on YouTube and Facebook, Blue Blanc Rouge. And as soon as I ever see any information, I will update you then. But thank you guys so much for joining me today. And I can't wait to bring you a story next week about somebody I get to share my birthday with, which is coming up this weekend. So I'll see you guys next Tuesday and have a wonderful week.