Nuit Blanche

Nuit Blanche, "White Night", is an annual event, where numerous art installations are set up all over the city. Many buildings and bridges are lit for most of the night. Last year we were out of town during this weekend, so this year I wanted to be sure to hit up some of the sites, which started around 8pm and lasted into the wee hours of the morning. What a great view to start off the night, huh? Thanks Bobbie & Ray!

We started at Hotel de Ville, where there was a large bunch of balloons. I promise, it was cooler than it sounds. Not only did they move with the wind, but the strands changed colors depending on what color was chosen by the person using the tablet inside the nearby tent at the time.

Next, we wandered over to the Pantheon area, where we saw several pieces of art on the road, including a moving piece of art, which was slowly rebuilt piece by piece as it slowly made its way across the road. We also entered a church where we listened to a creepy organ recital and watched an abstract painting that changed with the music. Unfortunately, the pictures didn't turn out here, but we did get scared by "ghost Justin" several times.

Probably the coolest thing we saw was purely by chance. Outside of a building that's part of the Sorbonne University was a long line, but we had no idea for what. We decided to wait out the line {which ended up being very fast moving}, and boy are we glad we did! It turns out the building is Sainte-Genevieve Library, which in and of itself is impressive. I felt like I was in a movie; the ceiling was my favorite part!

     In the far end of the library was a huge pile of crumpled paper. We quickly realized this was the art exhibit for Nuit Blanche. An artist created an art piece, which was replicated on thousands of sheets of paper. Each person that came to this exhibit got to crumple up a sheet and throw it onto the pile. Because we were there so late in the night, it was a pretty big pile. We joked that it was certainly not a fire hazard! ;)

Bobbie's getting ready to throw her paper!

By this time it was already 2:30am {we got a bit of late start after chatting and eating}, we decided it was time to call it a night. Unfortunately, all the cabs, Ubers, and bikes were unavailable where we were, so Lindsey and I ended up walking at least 30-40 minutes before finding some available bikes for the rest of the trip home. An hour later, we were so glad to be in bed!

Although we probably won't be in Paris for this event next year, I hope sometime when we visit it will coincide with this event. It was quite a bit cooler than I had imagined! Of course, I never have my nice camera when I want it, so check out my friend Ray's blog for a few awesome non-phone pictures!

This has nothing to do with Nuit Blanche, but my first HolyBelly experience followed the next day,
and it did not disappoint {even after an hour wait at 2:30 in the afternoon.}