journee du patrimione

Sept 15 & 16, 2007

I found out Friday night that this weekend is the "National Heritage Days" in France. (Yet another reason in my growing collection of why I think France is cool). The government, in order to promote...I don't know what...opens the doors to over 14,000 monuments, museums, government buildings, and privately owned buildings to the general public--for free. So all the stuff that is free on first Sundays of the month is free all weekend...but so is a bunch of other stuff that normally you can't even go in at all!

I started off at the City Hall, called the Hotel de Ville. I can't believe I haven't written about the Hotel de Ville yet, as it is a on-going joke between Sue-wee and me. We didn't learn, for at least a month probably, that the Hotel de Ville is not a hotel. It's the city hall. (And the Hotel de Police is NOT where Sting stays when he comes to town, but merely the police station. And the Hotel de Dieu--which means God--is not where God stays or keeps His guests...okay, you get it.)

So here in Paris the Hotel de Ville is this big, elaborate building that would make a cool hotel to stay in if it did rent rooms. But it doesn't, and we've already covered that, so...moving on. I've never been inside. But today, I could go! And I did! And I liked it! It's pretty. Pretty. I love the way the French make everything so pretty.

Then I went to a garden set up like a medieval village. That was cool. Wished I had a video camera. Then I tried to go to two other private buildings, but felt the sudden urge to escape and run away very quickly.

Why?

Because there was a Techno Parade going on two blocks up. I didn't know for sure at the time if it was exactly a techno parade. I just knew the following things: it was a parade, it was playing the loudest music ever, and there were mobs and mobs of people. The music was so loud that I couldn't hear the music I was playing into my head with my ipod when I was two blocks away. When I was right by the parade, I couldn't even hear myself speak.

Why did I think it was a techno parade? Well, the mobs of people were all wearing black and/or neon colored clothing. Most of them had mullets and/or spiked/mohawked hair. And nearly everyone was pierced in places that I don't think God intended for holes to be places in our bodies (or He would have put holes there Himself). And the music was TECHNO. The dancing was TECHNO.

I will never, for the life of me, understand Europe's obsession with techno.

The urge to escape came upon this little introvert quite quickly. Forget free stuff. I need to maintain my sanity and that meant being as far away from the techno parade as possible. I decided to go to the Presidential Palace, because surely Sarkozy wasn't in that mad mulleted mob. But the line was 3 hours long at Chez Sarkozy, so I came home.

And watched Auburn lose to Mississippi State on the internet. Yeah for live football. Sadness for the AU Tigers playing lousy.

I decided to hit up the Elysee (prez place) again on Sunday, and then a little Musee D'Orsay. Surely there won't be techno music in there with Monet, Renoir, Degas, and friends.

Here's a little article about the techno parade. There's even a video. You might want to mute the music...but you can at least see what I mean when I say crowded masses. And the people in this video look normal. The people I saw on Saturday did not.

I crawled out of bed early Sunday morning and headed towards the Elysee, hoping that if I got in line an hour before it opened, I wouldn't have to wait for more than an hour or so. HAHA. All of Paris had the same idea as me. The line was several blocks longer than yesterday's--a four hour wait. (And this at 8:15am). I got in line, read my book for about 30 minutes while thinking it through. I finally decided there were much better ways to spend my life than waiting four hours in line--for anything. So I left.

I wandered around for the rest of the day, which turned out to be a great decision. It was a beautiful day! Forget free stuff...Paris is just so pretty.

The sun, as it was rising, was shining directly at the Arc de Triomphe. So I decided to walk down the Champs Elysee (big famous street) towards it to take some pictures...since I haven't taken any pics of the Arc since I've been here. (Shame shame on me. I'm not a true Parisienne.) I usually really dislike walking the Champs Elysee because it is a big, crowded with tourists shopping street--all things I don't enjoy. But at pre-9am on a Sunday, when all the shops are closed...it really is delightful. It was quiet and pretty and the sun shining on the Arc made me want to take pictures. So I did.

Then I headed over to the Eiffel Tower hoping for some early-morning light pictures of the tower, and hopefully--another void of tourists. I soon discovered that pictures would not be great there today, because of the giant rugby ball--looks like an egg--that is currently hanging from the tower. I also discovered--there was a race going on in Paris today. Hmmm...I was hoping to avoid crowds!

I figured since I had Sue-Wee's camera, I ought to go take pictures of my new favorite door in Paris. After leaving from there, I heard drumming. Constant drumming. It sounded like someone was about to be sacrificed to a pagan god. No, no...it was the race! It found me! (And some women were drumming to cheer the crowds on). By this point, I needed to go to the bathroom, and I'd found myself wanting to go to a museum too, so I wondered some more over to the Rodin museum. It wasn't participating in the journee du patrimione, so it wasn't free.
Hmmm...Musee d'Orsay, anyone? I meandered over there, waited in line, and finally got to a bathroom hours after I'd figured out I'd needed to go. But oh! The Musee d'Orsay...how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

After several blissful hours in what is easily my favorite museum in Paris, I couldn't resist the sunshine any more. Back outside...to the Tuileries garden, my happy place in Paris. Today must have been the prettiest I have seen this garden look. The trees are all beginning to change colors for fall, and shed their leaves...but the flowers are all still fully in bloom and so colorful! The ground, with the flowers, looks like spring, while the trees look like autumn...and the sun today made it feel like summer! Wonderful! Then, to end my great wandering day...I stumbled upon this concert.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

I read in the Musee d'Orsay today that Victor Hugo said, "Breathing in Paris preserves the soul." While I don't agree (obviously) with the spiritual side of that statement...I can say that I find truth in it in other aspects. Taking a walk in Paris seems to lift my spirits every time I go...whether they need lifting or not. It's a good place to live and breathe.

P.S. Pictures are on the photoblog.