Alex and his friends managed to get invited to some art thing called The Creators Project. It was being held at Gaite Lyrique, which is a fancy looking building originally established by the Théâtre de la Gaîté theatre company, later turned into a Parisian fair-grounds. It all sounded mildly interesting until Alex mentioned that there would be free booze. Sold!

We turned up to the location but it was infested with hipsters. I thought there were a lot of of hipsters in Toronto, but at least the contamination was localized to certain parts of the city. In Paris, it seems like a hipster-law had been declared and it was mandatory to wear skinny jeans, black-rimmed glasses and gay scarfs. For a moment I pictured what I would look like as a hipster. Nah, skinny jeans would make me look fat. And glasses would be impractical for rock climbing. Not that I’ve ever gone rock climbing but you never know what the future will hold.

We entered the exhibition and I didn’t even need to pretend to be interested. It was like an orgy of digital multimedia art. And it got more interesting after we started drinking free vodkas. I made an attempt to appear cultured and allowed the art to permeate my consciousness. I wanted the art to speak to me and it did. It said “get more free booze”. Vodka does tend to do that to me.

So I left Alex and returned to the bar area. I jumped in the line, asking the person in front of me how to order in French. When it was my turn to be served, I proudly announced “vodka pomme si vous plait” as if I was a born and bred Parisian. Okay, I probably butchered the pronunciation but at least I got what I wanted. Suddenly, the bar seemed like the most interesting place in the event. In a way, it was like an organic art exhibit. I decided that I would hang out here and make some new friends. It’s funny how alcohol is such an effective social lubricant. Before long, I thought I was fluent in French and laughing at people’s jokes as if I understood what anyone was saying. Ok in reality I was just standing in line again, grinning to myself but it felt like I was being social.

At some stage I went back to find Alex and his friends, who were in the electronic music room. Basically it was like being in a club and listening to experimental techno. It was lots of fun and without a doubt the most interesting art event I’ve every been to. If you don’t count Burning Man.

The festivities continued until the booze ran out. At which point he left to eat Parisian kebabs, which is just like regular kebabs except you order in French and you get frites instead of chips. My first foray into French cuisine, yummy.

Do you ever go to art exhibitions when you travel?