La Nuit des Musées!

Remember how France was going to make all the museums free entry to students starting in April? Well I found out that this was only halfway true. It was meant for French students only, meaning people like me either have to wait until the first Sunday of the month to see a national museum for free, or just suck it up and pay.

Boo! We are NOT amused!

But I did get the opportunity to stick it to the French government (sort of) by going to the Nuit des Musées, meaning 'night of the museums'. On this night in particular, several participating museums opened their doors to anyone and everyone from around 6pm to midnight, and the best part was that it was free!


I've had my eyes set on a few museums that I've never been to: the Pompidou Center (the big one that has multi-colored piping all over it), the Pantheon (the one that looks like the US Capitol building and is where all the famous French authors are buried), and the Grand Palais (it's a giant glass building on the Champs Élysées). And some others too, but one thing at a time, people.

Unfortunately, the Pantheon wasn't participating, so I planned my night around the other two.

First stop: the Pompidou Center for some modern art!

Here's the entrance to the museum. The line-up to get in was pretty long, but it moved quickly.





They had the upper floors open for the night where they keep the permanent collections. Photos weren't allowed for most of the sections but I did manage to snap a few pictures of the entrance.





There was a pretty big crowd while I was there, and some people even brought their kids.






I was really impressed with most of what I saw. I'm not particularly a fan of modern art, but I can appreciate the pieces that are different enough to grab your attention, and especially if it's obvious that the artist put a lot of thought and effort into their work. Even if it does come out as a large woman hanging on the wall with her underwear showing.

There was also a temporary exhibit of children's toys from the 1920s (I think that's the right decade). They were made out of bent wires, and looked like whimsical little things you hang from the ceiling.

And of course, there was art that I didn't understand. For example, one of the rooms was filled with paintings in which the artist probably used a rolling brush to paint a single color on the canvas. And that's it. If that's art, then me and my mom are artistic geniuses because we painted our entire house using a rolling brush! Geez...





The architecture was pretty interesting, though. The escalators in the building are on the outside in a glass tunnel, so you can see some nice views of Paris as you go up and down.





See? Here's a view towards the Eiffel Tower (it's the glowing spire thing in the distance) with one of the escalator tunnels on the left.

Here's another view from a balcony outside.

And another! It was a really nice night. By the way, the glowing thing in the distance on the right is the Sacré Coeur cathedral.



After the Pompidou Center, I went to check out the Grand Palais for the first time!

This was at the entrance! They had a temporary exhibit for Andy Warhol on the other side, but the line was incredibly long for that (I guess the French love Andy Warhol), so I went around to the front instead. All I wanted to do was see the inside, but I found out that they were showing another temporary exhibit there, called La Force de L'Art (the force of art).

(By the way, my friend Emily actually did see the Andy Warhol exhibit and posted about it. The link is on the right if you want to read it.)

Here's another view of the entrance. Pretty big, right?

So here's something I didn't expect! I thought there'd be some rooms and several floors inside the Grand Palace, but no... just a vacant exhibition hall!

It was huge inside too! Here's a view of the ceiling.

This exhibit really impressed me. It was modern art done on a larger scale, meaning full-room installations and sometimes even bigger than that. The best part for me was that the stuff I saw was so imaginative and so bizarre that every now and then I caught myself gaping in awe at what I was looking at. I really like the kind of art that catches you off guard and just makes you say "whoa".

This piece was basically a room cut in half. There was also slashed furniture everywhere as if someone came in completely pissed off and with a chainsaw.





This one was supposed to represent protesters. The little hands were on wheels that made them bounce up and down.





The giant green wall with the claw marks was supposed to be like a marking of a prehistoric monster of some kind, as if the creature was still alive. Creepy...

This one was a room with cartoon-like drawings all over the walls.

And this one was like a snowflake palace! See that orange thing in the center? I think that was supposed to be a carrot nose for the 'snowman' standing in the middle of the room.




Most of the collection was just interesting, but some of it made me feel like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole...



Here's something bizarre... imagine plastic waste bins melted and painted blood red to look like a load of fresh carcasses hanging from the ceiling!





...Or a garden of sideways trees and little tooth-shaped tables surrounded by a curtain of green silly string!



...Or a giant black cube thrashing around like a caged animal! This one was a bit scary in person (listen closely to hear what sounds like growling):


Whoa.

And this is what happens when you drink on the job.

(Or take in other substances) :P

Hmm, 'violent extasy' you say?

This one was pretty cool: the artist went to China and took thousands of pictures, blew them up to be poster-size, and then stacked them on top of each other to make a giant photo kebab, similar to the real ones you see in Turkish restaurants all over Paris! But the best part was that you could go up to it and cut off your own 'slice' of the kebab with the knives attached to the installation.

Here's a video of some people doing that:

The result was a confetti of photos, but I liked the concept of it!




After I saw everything in the Grand Palais, it was midnight already. But on the way home, I managed to see one last thing:

This is the Monnaie de Paris, or the Paris Mint, and it was lit up all night for the event!






I didn't go inside (coin collections don't interest me much), but hey, look at the bubbles!!! :D


So maybe I didn't exactly stick it to the French government for discriminating against us foreign students. But it was still fun. :)

Bisous XOXO

Hunting through Paris! ... Day 7 (Invalides, opera, and protesting)

I intentionally skipped Day 6 because that was mine and Hunter's "day off" from being tourists, meaning we took barely any pictures. We slept in, stayed around my apartment, and just took a nice little break in the middle of the week.

But on Thursday, which was Day 7, I had class in the morning, and Hunter started off the day by visiting the Invalides with Monica!

In case you're not familiar with it, the Invalides is like a huge military museum, and the chapel in the picture above is where Napoleon's tomb is located.







Here's Hunter posing by the bridge Alexander III, which is one of the more opulent bridges in the city (see the gold?).

Here's Monica posing by the bridge.

Hunter again!

The lovely Monica!

He looks so happy!

Here's Monica standing in the courtyard holding Hunter's dossier! Remember how I made that self-guided tour for him? I put everything in this file along with maps of other parts of the city, things to read if he got bored, and things to know about the Invalides for when he went there with Monica!

Another happy picture of Hunter!

Then they went inside the chapel to see Napoleon's tomb.

Here's Monica standing in front of the tomb.

Hunter was apparently in awe over the domed ceiling.

The tomb by itself.

Pretty soon, my class ended and I met up with them in front of the chapel. Monica had to go, so I had Hunter to myself for the rest of the day!

I decided to get creative with the camera! Here's Hunter doing his best military poses.

Hunter found a van with this fencing picture on it, and since I used to fence sabre, he wanted me to do my best lunge. Good thing my skirt was stretchy!

Here's my pensive look in front of the dome.

Couple picture!

After we played around at the Invalides for a while, we decided to go back to that bike rental company to rent bikes for the remainder of Hunter's visit (it's so much more fun going places on a bike than taking the metro!). We picked up the bikes really quickly because we had to be at the Paris opera house soon after that.

As I said before, I'm currently taking an opera course, and part of the course includes visits to the major opera houses in Paris- Opéra Garnier and Opéra Bastille. Opéra Garnier (also called the Paris Opera) is the house that everyone is familiar with because it's the older one and it's also referenced in the play "The Phantom of the Opera". Lucky for us, our class's visit to the Opéra Garnier was scheduled for the Thursday that Hunter was here, and my professor agreed to let me bring him along on the tour! It was amazing! We learned so much about the house's history, its architecture, and they even took us backstage to see people working and rehearsing. The only downside was that the entire tour was in French, and our guide spoke really quickly and without many pauses, so when I did finally get the chance to translate the information to Hunter, I basically had to remember several sections of the tour all at once.

Here we are inside the opera house!

I had to take a picture of the ceilings! Our guide told us that the art in the house had a lot of influence from Greek mythology because the overall impression was meant to be that the opera is like a sacred temple of music that's blessed by the different gods pertaining to the Arts.





Here's our group standing in the main entrance. We were told that when the house was built, the opera was more of a social event than just a time to go see a performance. Every public space was meant to be a sort of scene or backdrop for the people walking around, because back then, the real show was watching everyone else who came, similar to how we watch award shows on tv today (it's more about what the celebrities are wearing than who won something). This room was therefore one of the most important because it allowed the people to have a grand entrance, to watch others entering the house, and to mix and mingle.

Couple shot in the main entrance!

The ballroom was also really important as a public space. It's similar to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, and was another area for people to mingle. Also, this room was meant to show off the wealth of the opera house and the Bourgeoisie, rivaling the opulence from the monarchy shown at Versailles.






Here's Hunter admiring the artwork on the walls. I wonder what he was thinking in between the translations....

Couple shot in the ballroom!

Here's a picture of one of the smaller rooms just outside the ballroom. The ceiling was meant to resemble the sun and how it shines for the world of opera. Another symbolic reference.







Back to the main entrance! This is the grand staircase and it is the single most important part of the house because it's where you are first seen by society and where your opera experience begins. Below the staircase the lighting is dim and as you ascend the stairs, the lighting becomes brighter, so the overall effect is that to enter the temple of opera, you must ascend toward the heavens, toward the light, and become enlightened along the way. It was supposed to be a spiritual experience as well as impressive.

Here's what it looks like to ascend the staircase.

This room was the entrance for the wealthier patrons. There are mirrors all around and from every angle so the patrons could check themselves before they entered the main entrance and the scrutiny of society's eyes upon them.





Next, we went into the actual theater...
Here's a picture of the ceiling and the chandelier. The ceiling is painted with references to some of the great operas in history, Like Romeo and Juliet for example. And the chandelier is amazing with no explanation!






Here is some of the seating. We found out that the average seats will usually sell for around 70 euros. The nose-bleeds where you can't see anything run for around 30 euros.

And if you're wondering why they chose red and gold for the color palate in the theater- it's because these colors are the most flattering for human flesh tones, so it was more for the audience to look appealing instead of the performers.







Here's one of the box seats right next to the stage. Seats like these were the most preferred and the most expensive- not because you get a good view of the stage (the best seats for the view were actually in the balcony towards the back). It was because those places were easily seen by the rest of the audience. Just think, all you had to do to see the patrons in the box was shift your eyes slightly from the stage. Remember, the Opera was more of a place to see and be seen than anything else.

Here's Hunter glowing in the flattering reflection of the seat cushions!

Then, they took us backstage!
Here's the actual stage! Notice that it's at a slight incline towards the back. The reason why is because the incline allows for the performers and scenery in the back of the stage to be easily viewed just like the front of the stage.






Here's a dance studio with some dancers rehearsing. Our guide told us that the studio is decorated similarly to the public spaces because this is where the patrons of the opera would come backstage to meet the performers. This room also has a promiscuous connotation because there were always rumors that the relationships between some of the patrons and the female dancers were less than professional. Plus, there are peepholes in various places in the walls so that stage workers could peer in on the dancers while they were changing. Those peepholes are still there.





Now, if you've ever seen or are just familiar with the story of the "Phantom of the Opera", you know about the rumor of the underground lake below the opera house. Well, the rumor is partly true since there is actually a water reservoir below the house. But the best part is that we got to see it!


We had to go several stories below the house to see the water, and there were cages over the openings so you couldn't fall in.





As you can see, some of the floor is usually wet, so they had boards for us to walk over.

So here's the story behind the water:
As the opera house was in construction, one of the major obstacles was the swampy foundation and the underground water they were building over. Charles Garnier, who was the architect that the house was named for, came up with the genius idea to utilize the problem as a solution. The major problem with opera houses in general is that the weight is unevenly distributed throughout the building. The heaviest section is the stage (in the middle), and the lighter sections are the public spaces and the administative offices at the back, so the ultimate effect would be that the whole house would sort of cave in at the center. Garnier decided to use the underground water to prevent this by creating a reservoir and using the water to help balance the structure. The plan worked, and the design was used for other opera houses around France.

Another benefit of having an underground reservoir: because the decorations were so flammable and because of the gas lighting, there was always a tremendous risk of fire. However, with a ton of water close by, you have a quick way to stop the fire before it spreads.

Here I am by the reservoir!

That was the last bit of the tour. I really enjoyed it, and I'm excited for the next our at the Opéra Bastille!

After the tour, Hunter and I rode our bikes back to my apartment.

Here's my glamour shot of the day as we were riding through the city!

Funny face by the Seine!
(I think the face was because I was on a bike with a skirt on that kept riding up. I got a good bit of attention that day, ha ha...)

We rode through the Bastille on the way home, and we found part of a huge protest along the way.

It was crazy! As you can see, there were people hanging off the Bastille monument and the whole square was shut down (the road behind us is a round-about that's usually packed with cars).

There were so many people that we couldn't ride our bikes and it took a while to navigate through the crowd on foot. It's hard to see, but here I am in the middle with my bike.

I'm not sure exactly what they were protesting that day and exactly who was participating, but I know that Sarkozy's reforms are upsetting a lot of people here. Protesting and strikes are usually a normal occurrence here in France (they call it descendre dans la rue, meaning to descend into the streets), but it seems to be a lot more frequent lately.

I found a BBC news article that explains what happened that Thursday pretty well, and has links that give a little insight as to what's been fueling the unrest here if you want to know more:

French strikes- BBC

So it was a pretty eventful day!

Bisous XOXO