There was a convergence Saturday night in my little corner of the Marais. Nuit Blanche- a night that they keep everything open from 7PM to 7AM. The streets are packed music in the street, light shows, and beautiful people. The church next door to us was open, Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux Church - they had a light show. People were lying on the floor of this old church listening to space music and watching a light show on the ceiling. I would imagine many were stoned...if they weren't they should have been. Everything loosened up considerably after Vatican 2.

Hotel De Ville is down the way from us. The streets are closed because France is playing New Zealand in the quarter-finals. The rugby match is being shown on a huge screen in front of the mayor’s office. New Zealand is favored to win- it's a no brainer. Thousands of people are there. Sitting on metro signs, in trees. Screaming, singing, drinking, dancing. It's festive but it also seems volatile- there are so many people. We watch for awhile- we don't know what's going on but how can you not watch the crowd- "Are we for France or the All Blacks?”, my 15 year old niece from Brussels asks her dad- tonight we better be for France. There is an eruption from the crowed. France wins.