Rain, Rain and More Rain

Paris at this time of year is not pretty or beautiful. Everyone is back from vacation and back to work. The days get drastically shorter and the rain comes. And the rain just smears all the dirt around, making traveling through the city more than a little unpleasant. Yesterday I got soaked walking from work to the metro. All things considered, this time period in Gay Paree makes me want to move someplace tropical.

However, there are a lot of interesting things to do. All the concert halls start their new season with interesting plays, ballets, symphonies, etc. The first weekend of October is Nuit Blanche which literally means 'sleepless night' but is in fact a celebration of art, or at least it is supposed to be. All of the museums are open until the wee hours of the morning and there are tons of people on the streets all night.
But for some reason everyone treats the night as a big party. I've gone out every year except this year and have noticed that a rather large number of people get totally tanked. For the most part, I find the French really responsible (boring) concerning alcohol consumption. They have 1- 2 glasses with meals and that's it, but during the Fête de la Musique and Nuit Blanche they just let loose. For the Fête de la Musique I understand the party mentality, but for Nuit Blanche? I just don't get how art appreciation and drinking go together. Maybe I am missing something but when I go to museums the only thing that makes me want to drink is the suffocating amount of people.