Aidan Curran posted on November 14, 2007 11:43
In French a nuit blanche (literally, 'white night') means an all-nighter. Paris celebrates an annual Nuit Blanche every October - museums and cultural spaces stay open until the wee hours and everyone gathers outdoors regardless of the autumnal weather.
All year round there's a more familiar Paris version of the all-nighter; the last metro being at 1 a.m. (an hour later on Saturdays), you miss it by accident or design and you resolve to stay out and awake until the metro re-opens at around 5:30 a.m. To this end many Paris bars stay open until five in the morning to exploit/shelter the weary metro-lingerer. This scenario is becoming less common thanks to the Vélib' public bike scheme and the improved Noctilien ('night-link', like in Dublin) late bus service.
Dublin's French and French-lovers can enjoy their own 'white night' this weekend. La Nuit Blanche is a live music event taking place at The Button Factory (all together now: "formerly known as the Temple Bar Music Centre") on Friday 16 November.
The soirée bills itself as 'the bohemian alternative to French chic'. So, we guess that there'll be little in the way of posing, pouting, swaggering or searing electro-punk soundclashes. Instead, the menu features "an often misunderstood side of the Parisian scene, where nostalgia and folk music confront contemporary and abrasive lyrics." What this means is that there'll be Django-inspired folk-jazz from Akim and skiffle-backed slam poetry from T'Inquiète Lazare.
Now, your blogger knows that you're quite the fan of French chic and posing on the dancefloor. Never fear: France-and-dance fans will be catered for by the DJs of French Friday, which recently finished its monthly residency at Thomas House. It'll finish late, you'll miss the last Nitelink and voilà! A real nuit blanche à la parisienne!
Tickets for La Nuit Blanche are yours for 12/14 euros from www.tickets.ie and when you arrive (doors are at 8pm) you're promised a complementary glass of Mr Hennessy, your blogger's illustrious Irishman-in-France predecessor.
Further details are available at the Nuit Blanche MySpace page.
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