To the delight of nightowls who also have a penchant for lurking around in museums, Paris hosts one night a year where most of the city's major museums open their doors to the public late-- and generally free of charge. Paris Museum Night, or La Nuit des Musées, usually falls in mid-May: perfect at a time when most of us prefer to be outside lounging in the city's verdant parks or roaming around the streets.
Paris Museum Night 2009:
In 2009, Paris Museum Night falls on Saturday, May 16th. Most participating museums open at around sundown and close at around midnight, but be sure to check times for the museum you're interested in.Paris Museum Night 2009 Highlights:
- The Louvre Museum is showing a series of films exploring the use of black and negative space in art.
Time: From 8 pm to 9:30 pm
Free visit of permanent exhibits: from 7:00 pm through midnight
- Musée de L'Orangerie des Tuileries is hosting a musical installation, "Les Nymphéas" around the works of impressionist painter Claude Monet.
Time: 9:00 pm through 1:00 am
- The Musée Carnavalet is hosting classical music concerts (8:30 to 10:00 am), a dance performance featuring one sighted dancer and one blind dancer (8:00 pm to 8:30 pm) and visits of the permanent and temporary exhibitions.
- The Centre Georges Pompidou is opening its permanent collection of contemporary art to the public free of charge. Temporary exhibits are not included.
Time: 8:00 pm to 1:00 am
- The recently opened Quai Branly Museum , dedicated to indigenous arts, is offering free admission to the permanent collection. From 6:00 pm to 11:30 pm, storytelling sessions will bring Aboriginal, Inuit and Kongo objects in the collection to life.
- The Musée d'Orsay will be offering free admission to its permanent and temporary collections, and hosting a contemporary dance performance from 10:45 pm to 11:30 pm.
Opening times for visits: 6:30 pm to 11:00 pm (last entries at 11:00 pm)
- The Grand Palais is showing a series of films on Pop Art king Andy Warhol in tandem with a temporary exhibit commemorating the artist, in addition to a flurry of musical and dance performances.
See more information on the program here
- The French Cinematheque (Cinema Museum) is opening its permanent exhibition on the history of film free of charge, and hosting musical and video tributes to quirky French director Jacques Tati.
See more information on the events here
