Paris Attractions | La Nuit des Musées

The best things in life are free and for one night in May, hundreds of museums across France will be open to the public and entry is free. This is an initiative of the French Department of Culture which was launched in 2005.

Some 1,000 museums throughout France and Europe participate in this annual event and there will be all types of workshops, competitions, activities, conferences and exhibitions to keep visitors happy, although many will be happy enough that there’s no charge at all. Similar events take place throughout Europe on the same date.

The Louvre, Paris

La Nuit des Musées is on Saturday, May 16th and participating cities include Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Cannes.

You can check their website to see who’s participating and where. The Louvre for instance will be open from 19:00 – 24:00 and there film screenings from 20:00 – 21:30. The National Library is also open from 19:00 – 24:00 with photographic exhibitions.

There are activities for children as well, like treasure hunts, and at the Musée en Herbe kids between 9 – 13 y.o. can learn about the fabulous pop-art CD covers of Andy Warhol and create their own covers for their favorite CDs.

Visiting museums in the after-hours is quite a different experience so if you’re in France this weekend, this is a great event. No doubt it will be very popular, but worth having a go at. Wish I were there!