'Nuit Blanche' is an annual event in Paris, whereby (so rumour would have it) everything stays open all night for revelry and awe. Imagine touring the Louvre at 2am, followed by a quiet 4am brunch in a streetside cafe watching the crowds walk past, and the carnival-like atmosphere.

It would be great - if it were true!

Last year's was a shambles. The authorities didn't (wouldn't) release guides until the night itself (and then didn't explain how to get them) and most Parisians had no idea what was open, or where.

We joined the crowds milling outside the Louvre (closed), tried the Musee d'Orsay (closed) and settled for a Bateau Mouche - which turned out to provide the long awaited guidebook once you'd bought your ticket.

The boat trip itself was pleasant, during which we could read the guide - to discover few places indeed were open at all, and the promised 'all night opening' of the Metro only applied to certain lines in certain directions.

The only bar we could find open and not crammed with similarly baffled tourists was Australian (not very Parisian). When we finally gave up, we joined the thousands of others equally trying to desperately get a taxi home in the sub-zero temperatures, and ended up huddled in a Metro entrance (closed) for warmth until the hordes had thinned enough for us to try and get back.

It can't be blamed on our being tourists - as we have French friends who live in Paris and who we'd joined to spend the 'event' with!

Hopefully this year's will be better, but I'd definitely check every detail out in advance, just in case!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuit_Blanche

www.paris.fr/portail/Culture/Portal.lut?page_id=6806

goparis.about.com/od/events/p/Nuit_Blanche.htm

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At the base of the funicular in Montmartre, if a man carrying some bits of coloured string approaches you and asks you to hold out your hand, he is about to (albeit pretty skilfully) weave you a “good luck” bracelet, indulge in some tired patter - “You got boyfriend?” “You and your boyfriend make jiggy jiggy, yeah?” - and charge you ten, yes ten, flipping Euros for about two minutes' work.

“But just ‘cause you’re English, and I like English. Americans and Italians, I charge them 20."

I encountered them near the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, but wouldn't be surprised if they were elsewhere.

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A horrible part of the city. I don't object in principle to the sex industry, but walking through Pigalle, you get pestered as you pass every establishment by pimps who'll try to drag you physically into the place they're working for.

You can tell it's a rough part of town when you go into the Metro station and there's a continuous message in several languages telling you to watch out for pick-pockets. A shame, because the best views of the Monmartre cathedral are to be had from this part of town.

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