Basically

Basic food groups: goat cheese melted on bread rounds; chocolate street crepe. Killing time during La Nuit Blanche because camera battery was completely down, and because I'm guessing it might be easier to get into the cathedral and Hôtel Dieu later (like maybe midnight?); maybe there won't be hundreds of people waiting in line, at any rate. The Hôtel de Ville is very pretty, and the Marcel Duchamp quotes running in lights around the Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville (BHV) are fun, but by far the most magical is the sound-and-light show going on (disclaimer: among the very limited number I get to see) in that installation I'd seen going up the other night on the Pont St. Louis. Around the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville the crowds are like Mardi Gras on Canal Street; everywhere else there are just--lots and lots of people. Come to think of it, that alone is fun and magical, a vast party atmosphere, Paris at night (and just getting started, because most of the installations and performances run until 7:00 tomorrow morning), bridges and monuments lighted as usual all around . . .

Better view of Pont St. Louis tonight: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf22be_pont-ile-saint-louis-nuit-blanche-2_webcam