Night of the Museums

Still grey and drizzly but we are hopeful that it will clear by this afternoon as we are off on a museum run. Once every year the museums of Europe have an open evening when many of them are free or put on special shows - this is the fifth year of the event. We have opted for the Museum of the History of France - National Archives, first - partly because it starts earliest at 1630 and partly because the Hotel de Sourbise is where I was studying in 2005. This will be followed by the museum of Arts and Metiers - inventions etc, then the Baccarat Gallery Museum - hopefully I will be able to get a contact for the factory in Alsace, and last but not least, the Louvre - hopefully by arriving late we will be able to get in without a long queue.
The sky has cleared by the time we set out and it is only a short stroll through the Marais to the Hotel Sourbise. The name Hotel was given to large city residences in pre revolutionary France - they became run down over the years but most have now been restored and many house Government departments such as, in this case, the National Archives. It feels a little strange walking back through the massive doors that lead from the street into the large courtyard where we are confronted by the rear end of a large red container. Nearby on the grass is a tent where they are running a quiz, two chairs facing TV sets and, around the perimeter under the porticos there are food stalls, a book restoration workshop and interactive areas for children.
As I am explaining to Marcia about my daily schedule we enter the main building where I recieve a major shock. Gone are the lockers and the reception desk and the doors to the research area lead through into an impressive timeline mural showing the history of France alongside the history of the National Archives (which go back to the time of the Kings). Upstairs it is the same but here there are historical items displayed in vitrines and through the doors at the back (where previously people would disappear and return with your requested items) there are restored room of the old Mansion. From the windows here I can see the round room in the opposite wing where I went to study the maps from the Baudin and d'Entrecasteaux expeditions. Its all a little disorienting until I find a staff member who explains that all the archives were moved to a new building (the Caran) on the same block twenty years ago and that when I was here the information I was after had been moved back temporarily.
Back home for a coffee before setting out for Arts et Metiers which is sort of like the Power House Museum in Sydney from what we've read. What an amazing collection of old equipment - from tiny clocks to huge lathes - models of Paris, and methods of construction for medieval buildings, an early ornithopter, planes, cars etc. But most amazing is Foucault's Pendulum (I remember this from Umberto Eco's book) which hangs from the centre of the nave in the old church which forms part of the museum. Not sure how it ended up here but the story about the museum goes that during the revolution when all the priests were being done in an enterprising priest converted the church into a museum by collecting any equipment he could lay his hands on and setting it up as a display showing the ingenuity of the French people (and in the process saving his life).
Back to the metro to Place Etats Unis which is at the other end of town - here we take a wrong turn and find ourselves on the banks of the Seine looking across at the Eiffel Tower (brilliant). Retracing our steps we find the building and enter a foyer which has two fireplace made from crystal (complete with fake gas log fires) and a lit electric crystal chandelier which is half submerged in a tank of water - not sure what this is meant to prove but it looks impressive. The building was once the home of art patron Marie-Laure, Viscountess de Noailles (1920-1970) who held fabulous parties here attended by artists like Man Ray, Cocteau and Dali. The downstairs rooms contain all the current Bacarat products including large chunky pieces by their new designer (some combining crystal and ceramic). All very nice but it is the historic stuff we are really interested in and we find this in a series of rooms upstairs. Breathtakingly beautiful, mostly extremely delicate including a long stemmed glass for the Tzar made from blue and clear crystal. After we have finished drooling I find staff member who tells me that I will need to another store in Paris to get the contact details of someone in the manufactory where the archives are kept.
It is now after nine pm and the sun has not quite set so we set off for the Louvre. Whizzing through the tunnels and Marcia remarks on how efficient the Metro system is, how you never need to wait more than five minutes for a train and how nothing seems to go wrong. Alas, we are about to find out that all is not as it seems. As we pull into Concorde station there is an announcement and everybody disembarks from the train which pulls away into the tunel empty. After a short break there is another announcement and everyone heads for the exit - obviously there are no more trains on this line for now. Fortunately Concorde is not far from the Louvre and we walk along the outside of the Tullieries Gardens (strange to see them deserted) to the building which houses the Museum of Decorative Arts then through the gardens at the back to the Louvre where we are stunned to see a huge queue of people which stretches halfway around the square (either lots of people had the same idea as us about coming late or they have been queuing all night). By the look of the line it will be another hour before we even get into the Louvre (after all its not like we haven't been here before) so we decide to call it a night and head for home footsore and weary but our heads spinning with everything we have seen today.