"You can't escape the past in Paris, and yet what's so wonderful about it is that the past and the present intermingle so intangibly that it doesn't seem to burden." -Allan Ginsburg

Last night in Paris was something called La Nuit Blanche. It's basically a modern art showcase that the mayor's office puts on, and it is so cool! Basically, everyone stays up all night, and different quarters of the city stay open (museums, restaurants, churches, etc.) All around the city there are art installations and exhibits, music concerts, acting showcases, and so on, that go on all night! The metro stays open and there are free buses that take you from one quarter of the city to another. This is the fifth year Paris has done it now, and it was amazing. My friends and I stayed out all night and wandered around the city.
In the church of St. Eustache, there was this huge sculpture of a crown of thorns made out of barbed wire, and this guy was putting on an organ concert - it was really creepy organ music and combined with the imposing size of the church, it was really powerful. In the Tuileries gardens, they had sculptures made out of snow, and they set up an ice skating rink with speed skaters going around and around it. At le Petit Palais, they had this electricity installation thing going on, so the light kept pulsating over and over, making the building look really cool - it was crazy. Across the street at le Grand Palais, they had this installation this guy did with thousands and thousands of pieces of candy, and it was supposed to be "living art" where everyone was supposed to participate and take a piece of candy. (They actually have the same thing at the Dallas Museum of Art, so it was neat to think the artist made it all the way over to Paris!) They lit up the big obelisk in the Place de la Concorde with a blue light. Anyway, the city was just chock full of crazy off-the-wall stuff like that, and even though I don't understand a lot of modern art, it was so neat to participate in!