The Louvre Museum, home to the Mona Lisa, says it has won a court injunction to stop striking workers from keeping visitors out.
Pickets have kept the gates chained since October 18th in a dispute over the introduction of a shorter work week in France.
The museum said today that the injunction ordered pickets to lift the blockade immediately and gave the Louvre the right to ask police to do the job if they failed to comply.
The riverside museum is among a clutch of publicly owned tourist draws in Paris that have been hit since March by industrial action. Workers want more staff hired so they can enjoy the benefits of a 35-hour working week.
The attractions, including the Arc de Triomphe and the towers of Notre Dame cathedral, have either been shut or, occasionally, open free due to a lack of staff to run ticket booths.
Today's statement said pickets had stopped 430,000 visitors from entering the Louvre since March, costing the museum 15 million francs (£1.25 million) in lost income.