Lately it seems like there is always something interesting happening in Paris. Yesterday, we ran into the tail end of a parade running down our street. There were no signs or advance warning that the street would be shut down or that a parade was scheduled, but we came back from a walk to find a giant creepy puppet surrounded by dancers walking past our apartment building, followed by a marching band that was dressed like harlequins and playing Mmmbop by Hanson (I am not proud that I was able to identify that song so quickly). While I was out of town earlier this month, J encountered a parade of guide dogs and their owners marching down our street. Who knows what we’ll see next!
Sometimes we have to work a little harder to come across random discoveries. Mid-week last week, while trying my best to read the newspaper in French, I discovered that there is an annual “Night of Museums” in Paris and other European cities where museums are open from 6 pm to midnight on a Saturday night and admission is free. Having just missed the monthly free museum Sunday in Paris, I was very excited to learn that la nuit des musées was just days away. We had dinner plans on Saturday night, so I consulted the map of participating museums and realized that the Centre Pompidou was very near to the restaurant. And so we ended up enjoying modern art and gorgeous views of the city at the Centre Pompidou last night, surrounded by a surprising number of other people. I think visiting an art museum after midnight was even more fun than all of the parades running down our street, but I probably need to check out a guide dog parade in person to be sure.
Sometimes we have to work a little harder to come across random discoveries. Mid-week last week, while trying my best to read the newspaper in French, I discovered that there is an annual “Night of Museums” in Paris and other European cities where museums are open from 6 pm to midnight on a Saturday night and admission is free. Having just missed the monthly free museum Sunday in Paris, I was very excited to learn that la nuit des musées was just days away. We had dinner plans on Saturday night, so I consulted the map of participating museums and realized that the Centre Pompidou was very near to the restaurant. And so we ended up enjoying modern art and gorgeous views of the city at the Centre Pompidou last night, surrounded by a surprising number of other people. I think visiting an art museum after midnight was even more fun than all of the parades running down our street, but I probably need to check out a guide dog parade in person to be sure.
