Saturday, May 17, 2008 – Nuit des Freebies

From Our Man in Paris, Ric Erickson, editor of MetropoleParis, that night in May when everything is free, in all sorts of ways –

Nuit des Freebies

Paris - Saturday, May 17 - Maintaining an ancient tradition all of four years, tonight was the occasion for a couple of hundred museums to be open with come-one come-all, until about midnight, and despite several exceedingly important football matches, tens of thousands of Parisians forsook their television sets and were out traipsing around in the dark, taking tastes of nocturnal culture because it was too much of a good, free, thing to pass up.

Don't get me wrong, where was I? Out on the trapeze with everybody else and I got so carried away that I overshot my quota of photos. Only needing four or five I came home with 125. What a schmozzle! Luckily nothing will go to waste - burning the spares will keep me in free incense for weeks.

To have the absolute tip-top info to guide me through the high-brow evening I purchased the official paper, today's Le Parisien. But none of its tips suited me. Who wants to caper around in Rodin's garden in the dark? I picked none of the above and hooked a metro to get to the Louvre, the world's foremost hypermuseum, home of the smiling lady and the flying thing plus warehouses full of ancient evening's Egyptiana.

I was not disappointed. Thousands of folks were standing in line to enter via the Pyramid which is copyrighted and you must have permission to merely gaze upon it so I am not admitting I took any photos of it, nossir. I took photos of its reflection in the various pools surrounding it. Reflections are very temporary items, unsuitable for copyrighting. If there is no water handy it is okay to use glass, as in windows.

So anyway, these thousands were strung out all over the Cour Napoleon, gossiping, sipping their eternal waters, humming, trading baseball cards and generally having a stand-around time until allowed to enter only to be replaced by yet more citizens willing to wait for a freebie. I could have watched them for hours because today's rain and hail happened about six and we weren't flooded after all like they were yesterday in Toulouse and Lille, at opposite ends of the country.

After the Louvre I decided to skip the 196 other attractions and take a metro zip to the Grand Palais. I certainly didn't think I would get in - I have not been in the Louvre since one rainy Sunday in November of 1978 - but maybe the folks would be distraught or antsy - who knows? Revolution is never far off in France especially now with the cost of diesel fuel exceeding the cost of super gas which is flipping high! Plus Paris' football team might wake up tomorrow morning in the second division.

There were only a couple of people going up the stairs to the Grand Palais. There were several hundred folks around the corner in the dark I didn't notice at first, but I kept clear of them. That part was for paintings anyway. I wanted to, if possible, see Richard Serra's beautiful steel slabs in the big part of the Grand Palais - and was I surprised to get in! No frisk, no pat down, no peek in the bag. Just walk right in and gawk.

It was kind of dim in there. It is a huge place inside. You could fit a small town in the central part and stash a village or two in the wings. So Serra's four or five steel slabs standing on end, about three meters wide and 17 metres tall, so where were they? Yes, in there alright, but like toothpicks in that space. The rest of it was empty except for all the Parisians milling around, asking each other if anybody knew where to find the toilets.

If you ask me I'll tell you that it is really worth it to go and see Serra's flat steel slabs for free in the dark. If you didn't know they were there and just wandered in off the street you might not notice them in the gloom. Besides, once you seen one that's it. The other three or four are identical. The darkness enhances their effect of sameness. They were free after all. No sneer, I've always been fond of steel.

After that I decided to inspect the Alexandre III bridge in the dark because it is only half a block from the front door of the Grand Palais and it has a lot of gilding. I'll say this for it - it had more lights than the inside of the Grand Palais, plus as you are crossing it, you can look at the gilded dome of Les Invalides, Napoleon's current home. It is well-lit as is the Tour Eiffel which you can see from the bridge. Another freebie, although it should be dark if you want to admire its lights.

The metro took me home and when I got out of the tunnel I didn't bother looking over my shoulder at the fairy lights on the Tour Montparnasse. Too much free stuff in one night gives me heartburn and pesky lint behind my ears. I can hardly wait until next year to do it again. Ah, moment here, what about the Nuit Blanche? That's sort of the same thing, except it's modern art instead of steel slabs. What other free stuff comes before October?

At the Palais Royal…

Text and Photos Copyright © 2008 - Ric Erickson, MetropoleParis

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik