Saturday night was all about Nuit Blanche a great cultural idea, where all over Paris, temporary outdoor art exhibits are set up, and then other organizations create walking, biking and roller blading tours between the spots. We met Lisa and started in the 18th arrondisement, one of the poorer and most diverse neighborhoods that I have seen here yet. It is near Monmarte.
The outdoor art here consisted of furniture hung on the walls of multiple story buildings, a huge exhibition of large globes that were filled with light, and an enormous skull created out of metal objects that had all been spray painted silver.
It looked like it all belonged in the Weston Art Gallery. About 200 people showed up for our 4 hour walk through Paris, and as the evening progressed we walked through several really interesting neighborhoods. We ended up in the Marais where there were thousands of people and thirty or forty amazing exhibits. We ate falafels and roamed around until about midnight, when our train turns into a pumpkin, so we have to head back home.
Sunday morning was a much awaited walking tour of the Academie Francaise. It was led by a french woman, speaking english with a lovely accent. She explained the history of France's institution that is designed to protect the French language, and not let any of that english stuff in there! She opined that less than 10% of French was based upon english, now, and that was acceptable. We loved the tour, and the building, only opened for meetings of the Academy, swearing in ceremonies for the members of the Academy, also known as Immortals, and guided tours, was very impressive. It sits on the river across from the Louvre with it's shining gold dome. When it was first built, it was actually outside of Paris and had to be designed to sit back away from the stench of the river!
Lisa joined us at the Academie and suggested we head to brunch at Breakfast in America where they have huge pancakes, omelettes and real American toast! It was excellent and really a hoot. As we ate breakfast, Lisa mentioned that she was friends with a woman whose french husband's family had at one time owned a chateau. When she described it, Pat figured out it was Vaux du Vicomte, and off we went.
We had taken Grandma here last winter, but the chateau wasn't open yet, and now the grounds were beautifully returned to their original design, keeping with La Notre's design, before he designed Versaille. Now the chateau was open to the public and many of the rooms were elegantly dressed. There is an amazing ball room with all the marble and glass looking out over the garden, and the light was beautiful. You can see why when Louis the King showed up to see his accountant's new house, he said, I want this all for my self -- arrest M Fouquet! It's a great story, and it is well documented in the house. there are drawings of the trial and the key players in the trial. The accountant, the long ago relative of Lisa's friend, was convicted of crimes against the crown and all of his assets were taken and given to the king. The king then had the architect of the Vaux du Vicomte design Versaille, so that he could upstage this beautiful country mansion.
The restoration of these chateaux must be horribly expensive, and at Vaux du Vicomte they were selling the opportunity to have your very own slate tile inscribed with whatever, before it is placed back on the house. Pat said we should buy one, and have it inscribed with "he didn't do it -- Fouquet was innocent."
