Paris, July 7 (RHC)-- The Mona Lisa is back in business as Paris' Louvre Museum, which houses the world's most famous portrait, reopened after a four-month coronavirus lockdown and without its usual huge throngs.

The reopening of the world's most-visited museum was a bright spot in what is otherwise shaping up as a grimly quiet start to the summer tourist season in France.

About 70 percent of the giant museum - 45,000 square metres of space, or the equivalent of 230 tennis courts -housing 30,000 of the Louvre's vast trove of works is again accessible to visitors starved of art in lockdown.

"It's very emotional for all the teams that have prepared this reopening," said Jean-Luc Martinez, the museum director.  Martinez said the museum was expecting just 7,000 visitors on reopening day. Before the pandemic, as many as 50,000 people per day toured the Louvre in the busiest summer months.