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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!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17480 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/15344
Tourists buy them for five euros to take home to their children or grandchildren and find out later that they've been conned.

The figures are actually suspended on clear fishing line and are attached to the vendor's backpack on one side and to some other object on the other side.

There's a motor inside the backpack that jiggles the figures around so that they seem to dance.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/15344 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12314
“But just ‘cause you’re English, and I like English. Americans and Italians, I charge them 20."]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12314 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1167
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.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1167