La Nuit Blanche

Paris never ceases to amaze me. Last night was La Nuit Blanche (literally ‘white night’ but means ‘all-nighter’ in French), a once a year event that showcases contemporary art in three big neighborhoods in Paris. (After a little Google search, I just learned that there are ‘White Nights’ all over the world, in one form or another). There were les installations, les films, and even les installations sonores (sound installations) all over the city. I am taking a class at Reid Hall on les installations so it was really cool for me to see all this crazy stuff all over the city. The closest thing that I can compare it to is New Year’s Eve and First Night in Boston. There were so many people out and about and it was such a festive atmosphere in the city. Plus, it was a little chilly in Paris so it finally felt like l’automne!

I was a little early for meeting up with my friends at the Jardin de Luxembourg so I hopped in the security line by myself. I had my little Nuit Blanche program book that I picked up the other day in a library but very few people seemed to have them. As a result, people kept coming up to me to see if they could look at it for a second. It wasn’t a big deal really and it gave me a chance to speak a little French but it was weird. It is so funny to be asked questions about Paris when I’ve only been here three weeks! It’s happened to me on the metro a couple times too, when I’m reading my book (that’s in french). I’m glad I understood everybody who came up to me though. If I suddenly get asked a question when I’m not expecting it, I sometimes end up missing everything the person says (= I’ve always got to be on my toes). Luckily, I wasn’t zoning out too much so I didn’t have any trouble last night.

I saw three big displays last night and I can’t decide which was my favorite, so I’ll start with third place: Les Cristaux in Notre Dame. Inside the cathedral there were these light up crystal thingys. I thought that it was going to be a lot cooler, like Superman’s Fortress of Solitude or something right smack in the middle of Notre Dame. It wasn’t quite this extensive but it was still neat.

Tied for first place:

La Maitresse de la Tour Eiffel in the Jardin du Luxembourg: a huge, rotating boule à facettes (disco ball) suspended by a crane with several huge spotlights, creating the effect of dancing light all over the garden. It was so amazing that I laughed out loud when I first saw it…..by myself.

The Forty-Part Motet in L’Eglise Saint-Séverin: Forty speakers set up in the church, each playing a single voice part of an English choir. The acoustics in the church were amazing, it sounded like you were standing in the middle of the choir. Plus, the individual speakers made it sound like there was an actual person standing behind you. I can’t decide if that was part of the artist’s message or not, that people can be replaced by boxes…..whatever, c’était trop cool.

No, I did not actually faire une nuit blanche, I wanted to get the last metro home, and boy did I ever. Since I was traveling by myself, I had no problem squeezing myself into the first train that came. We were packed like a box of sardines but whatever, I got home.

Now, in the spirit of Le Stade Français, Paris’ rugby team who I saw play Friday night:

Allez….Allez… Allez les Pat-ri-ots!