Nuit des Musées

Yesterday night was something called "la Nuit des Musées": an event located not just in France but in fact all over Europe. All the museums are open at night, usually until 1 or 2am. And often there is some special concert, performance, or exhibit that's going on as well. Last night Claire and I went to les Invalides, the tomb of Napoleon which also serves as la Musée de l'Armée along with my friends Victor, John, and Allison. The ambiance was pretty amazing--the Dome of les Invalides was all lit up in red and blue inside, and they had several live musical numbers also. The pic below with the coffin is Napoleon's final resting place.

Next topic of battle: Food carts. You know, the little stands on the side of the road in most major cities which sell lunch items? Philadelphia, where we lived for three years, had an outstanding selection of food carts, ranging from places to buy hot n' greasy Philly cheese steaks and 35-cent hot pretzels to hot dogs to any variety of Asian food you could imagine--most of which were a bargain as well. Paris has an equally impressive list of food items that can be bought from small food stands on the street, with the main headliners including crèpes, paninis (grilled sandwiches), and gaufres (waffles, usually with a healthy helping of Nutella smothered on top). Again, this is another tough choice, but due to my sweet tooth I'm going to have to declare France the winner in this particular battle. France 3, U.S. 2.