Nuit Blanche

France may not be a developing country, but there are a few items that a recent expat like myself gets a hankering for on the daily. Sour candy, R.S.V.P. pens, and moderately priced coffee are all top on my list. But there is one such item that has given my friends and me here a lot of grief. Where can I get some real Mexican food, s'il vous plait!!!!!!?? I've basically grown up on eating at least a couple burritos per week and upon discovery of the Chipotle food baby - there really isn't any going back. But sadly, a daily crepe (though I'm not about to complain) doesn't quite cut it.

So Friday evening Katherine and I set out on pursuit. I did a little research and discovered El Nopal. Located in the 10th arrondissement it was a bit of a hike/lengthy metro ride for us.... but OMG (!!!!) worth it. The owners, who lived in the States for 9 years, just opened this little hole in the wall a month ago and Katherine and I decided that we are singlehandedly going to work to keep them in business for the remainder of our stay. For 8 euros each we got a burrito (prepared with fresh vegetables, chopped and roasted right in front of our eyes), chips and guacamole (also made lovingly by hand), a drink and lovely conversation.

BEST MEAL EVER. Can't wait to go again!

After inhaling our dinner, we headed to Nuit Blanche. To have a nuit blanche (literally translated white night in French) is like saying pull an all nighter. Every year in October, all of Paris has a nuit blanche in the form of an all night arts festival. Certain metro lines are open 24 hours, but getting home at 6 am and then sleeping until 3 pm the next day (as I did) is not at all uncommon.

Fading by 8 pm, Katherine and I decided we would be needing some coffee to get us through the evening. We parked ourselves down at a local coffee shop - okay it was Starbucks :/ - and watched as what appeared to be a human powered wooden train (a Nuit Blanche exhibit) progressed by our window.

It was weird.

The train must have parked just outside of Starbucks, because quite soon a line of coal covered pre-teens/orphans (??) à la Oliver Twist filed through to use the bathroom.

Katherine assisting with the bathroom code. (We ended up sitting there for over an hour assisting the entire Starbucks population with the door code. It was humorous.)

After some much needed caffeine and a few laughs we headed on to see the other Nuit Blanche exhibits. We stumbled into a church where a group was conducting a human powered musical light show..... très cool

Then we hung out at the Hotel de Ville (city hall) which was lit up with lights spelling out "love differences" in many different languages.

And then we danced all night. C'est la vie française!

- Clara

P.S. Many people at home have expressed concerns about the recent terrorist threats and travel advisories in Europe. Honestly, there's really nothing I can do to assure you, but know that I am "remaining vigilant" and looking out for unattended packages. Oh and I'm registered with the embassy. I would say people here are a bit on edge, but at the same time no one is going to stop riding the metros. Though I might wait to go to the Eiffel Tower until things die down. I also really enjoyed reading this article by Rick Steves though. It helps to put things in a different perspective.