Something for the Weekend? (30th October/1st November)

One month comes to an end and another one begins as we slip ever closer to winter. Halloween falls on a Saturday and makes a comeback, but the average French person is still more concerned with the 1st of November - traditionally a day off work - falling on a Sunday!

Please add any events or activities you think should be promoted or which you would like to promote yourself in the comments, and let me know if you have any events in the coming weekends you would like to promote.

Halloween
Although the French have generally given up celebrating Halloween, the fact that it falls on a Saturday this year has been seen by most of the bars and clubs around Paris as an opportunity not to be missed. Is there anything particularly exciting being organised anywhere though? Well, in the afternoon you can get yourself made up as a zombie and join others for a walk around the city. In the evening, the Batofar is reopening after two weeks of renovations with a Halloween themed evening, including heavy metal concerts in the evening and DJs later on. This floating venue near the Bibliotheque Nationale will also feature a mini-museum of horrors and the screening of a selection of gory films for its Beat the Boat event.

Mixmove Sessions
Being a DJ or a musician in the electronic sphere is a serious business today, and this new date gives them the chance to meet, discuss, learn how to promote themselves and try out new equipment. For the casual visitor, it is an opportunity to get a closer look at this fascinating world, and also the recent and very interesting GFO Barbara building in Barbès. Live music events will take place in the evening.
http://www.mixmove-sessions.com/
30th and 31st October
Centre Fleury Goutte d’Or Barbara Paris
1 Rue Fleury, 75018

More Modern Art
After the FIAC circus last weekend, the ‘GMAC’ (Grand Marche d’Art Contemporain) offers a more leisurely outing. Of course this outdoor event alongside the basin and the Place de la Bastille is not at all on the same scale, and the creations are surely less interesting, but this time people might actually be buying art rather than watching other people buying it.
From 27th October to 1st November
Place de la Bastille

La Fête du Slip
Think you look good in a pair of y-fronts? If you’ve got the balls for it, this weekend at the Galeries Lafayette you can get yourself photographed wearing a pair of Calvin Kline boxers and enter an international competition. The winners will earn themselves a modeling contract and a holiday to South Africa.
http://www.9countries9men.com/
Friday 30th and Saturday 31st October
Galeries Lafayette

Shopping for Charity
If you want to go shopping this weekend and not feel guilty, the place to go is the Espace Showroom in the 8th arrondissement. Twice a year, an organisation called Arcat runs a charity sale of much-reduced designer clothes and accessories, which have been donated by the creators concerned. Entrance costs 2 Euros, and this plus the proceeds of all sales goes to charities working in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Expect to find gear from Antik Batik, Isabelle Marant, Princesse Tam-Tam and Lollipops amongst many others – if you get there early enough !

29th to 31st Oct 2009
L'Espace Showroom 30

30 Rue de Lisbonne 75008

La Porte Joubert, Galeries Lafayette

Entering the Galeries Lafayette store by the Porte Joubert entrance is like taking a step back in time to 1975. Around this time, my brother, sister and I were often taken to the local Heelas department store in Reading by our Mum, and to me it was like a giant adventure playground. In those days, most High Street shops were fairly austere affairs, staffed by elderly men in suits or women with bouffant hairdos, and woebetide any child who stepped out of line! Heelas was different though as it was larger than almost any other building I'd ever been in. It had polished wooden staircases, a restaurant, a hair salon, and a seemingly never ending series of departments running into each other. In one there would be banks of televisions and radios, in another piles of brightly coloured carpets and rugs, whilst yet another had glistening shelves of china dishes and plates where my Mum would close her eyes and pray whilst we ran around in excitement. In fact, it was the avowed dream of the three of us to be forgotten by our Mum and shut inside the shop FOR A WHOLE NIGHT!

Each time I enter the Galeries Lafayette through this door, a little tingle of that excitement comes back. It is surprising that in the largest shop in Paris, and one which prides itself on being at the forefront of fashion, such a forgotten corner exists. The store still proudly displays much of its Art Nouveau heritage, but this is no deliberate display of splendour. Instead, it is perhaps the only part of the store which has not merited an upgrade since the 1970s.

The trip back to 1975 begins with gently sweeping staircase, which leads up to a clock and watch repair unit (charmingly called ‘La Marche du Temps’), a bank of plastic chairs and a row of public telephones. Another 20 metres through the toileteries and wig showroom takes you into the main shop and disappointly back to 2008. As you become absorbed into the flow of tourists through the Chanel, Cartier and Luis Vuiton units, the magic slips away and you become the adult consumer again, not the wonderstruck child.

The Heelas store in Reading still exists, although today it has taken on the uniform rebranding of the John Lewis group. It is twice as big as the store I knew, but only seems to be half the size of the shop in my memory. Little of that place remains, perhaps only the wooden staircases, but I'd still love to spend a night there!