Nuit Blanche, the only night where everything in Paris theoretically stays open all night. But, just as when Chicago tried to do the same with "Looptopia", things closed as 2am. The nifty thing about Nuit Blanche is that you can get a map/program of the night's event at almost every train station. Unfortunately, the few times I tried to get one at Gare De L'est they were out or no one knew where I could find it when I asked. So, we were left to search for things (without smartphones) via their poorly laid out website. Luckily I found some cool things on their site and printed some maps and saved some screenshots on my iphone. Today was also the day that I finally had a working phone! SFR has a pre-paid weekly plan for 5 euros you get unlimited texting and calling (within France) on nights and weekends and unlimited texts and 2 hours of talk during the day. This plan was perfect for our evening (minus the no 3G) but, since Paris is big and there was a lot of us, we needed a working phone to get in-touch incase one of us got lost. We saw some pretty cool things that night, but the highlight of the evening was the 3 hour fireworks display. While they were re-stocking the fireworks, they had a water and lights show (the fireworks were being set off from the Seine). It was amazing, and something I will probably never experience again.
We ate dinner at a creperie called "Camille", they had wonderful crepes and salads (for some reason I was craving a salad). After we ate, we kept going down the Rue De La Republique and ran into some unique things like an outdoor short film festival, a "mythical garden", and a mist spectacle. Around 2am, we hit up a cafe close to the Bastile and leisurely sat in the warm cafe people-watching. After our coffees, we headed back outside and tried to look for something to do, unfortunately 3am is about when the performers abandon their station so by the time we made our way to something that looked promising (from the piece of paper I had printed) no one was at their post and the station was desolate. Since we hadn't eaten since 9ish, we found one of the only things to eat, which was Kabab. Then, we strolled the streets of Paris until Gare De L'est opened, which was 5am. Co-incidentally, that is the same time a scrumptious boulongerie opened. Before heading the station, we grabbed a yummy pain au chocolat for breakfast and waited in the station (our train left the station at 7:44am).
Of course right as we entered the station, there was an entire row of pamphlets/programs for "Nuit Blanche". I don't know how I missed that when we arrived, but I took one nonetheless and wrote down the exact location where I found it. I will get one for next year!
Me at the Myth of Olympia
At the Place De La Republique
The first thing we experienced
In front of the Centre Pompidou
A garden in the Myth of Olympia
The Louvre at night
The three amigos at the Louvre
Fireworks on the Seine
Video of the fireworks
We ate dinner at a creperie called "Camille", they had wonderful crepes and salads (for some reason I was craving a salad). After we ate, we kept going down the Rue De La Republique and ran into some unique things like an outdoor short film festival, a "mythical garden", and a mist spectacle. Around 2am, we hit up a cafe close to the Bastile and leisurely sat in the warm cafe people-watching. After our coffees, we headed back outside and tried to look for something to do, unfortunately 3am is about when the performers abandon their station so by the time we made our way to something that looked promising (from the piece of paper I had printed) no one was at their post and the station was desolate. Since we hadn't eaten since 9ish, we found one of the only things to eat, which was Kabab. Then, we strolled the streets of Paris until Gare De L'est opened, which was 5am. Co-incidentally, that is the same time a scrumptious boulongerie opened. Before heading the station, we grabbed a yummy pain au chocolat for breakfast and waited in the station (our train left the station at 7:44am).
Of course right as we entered the station, there was an entire row of pamphlets/programs for "Nuit Blanche". I don't know how I missed that when we arrived, but I took one nonetheless and wrote down the exact location where I found it. I will get one for next year!
All in all, it was a successful evening.
