Totally Frenched Out

From the blogger formerly known as Samdebretagne

Sunday, March 25, 2012

THATLou

This past Friday night, thanks to a tip from Edna, I was able to participate in a really cool new event called THATLou, which stands for Treasure Hunt At The Louvre.  It's the brain child of a lovely American named Daisy, and I have to say - it was a heck of a lot of fun.  As an added bonus, it was a Blogger's THATLou, so I was able to meet a bunch of new bloggers and twitterfolk that I've recently started following.

We met up at 7pm and were split up into teams of four.  Daisy gave us a packet showing a picture and a description of each of the oeuvres we could find. Each one had a different number of points based on its location and how easy/hard it was to find - and some also had bonus points, which we unfortunately didn't figure out until near the end.  There was a total of 1000 points possible but given the time frame (1h15min), it was impossible to find them all, so each team had to come up with their own strategy for getting the most points.  Do you try to hit only the big ones?  Or the ones that are mainly grouped together?  Or the ones with the most bonus points?  No matter which strategy you choose, the goal is still to find as many as possible as take a group picture in front of the piece.  As a side note, have you ever tried to take a group picture of a work of art that's on the ceiling?  I can assure, it's not an easy task, even with the help of a friendly French janitor.

My team was made up of Edna, Jennyphoria, Annie and myself.  We got off to a little bit of a rocky start by going in the wrong direction (it's been ages since I've been to the Louvre), but we had a strong finish that included a major find at the end and race through the Louvre in order to get back to the final meeting point on time (think ANTM when the models have to go on all of those casting calls and then be back by X time**). It wasn't pretty, but we made it.

While we didn't end up winning (nor did we win the second place prize for the team that tweeted the most during the hunt), I think it's pretty safe to say that we all had a great time. Especially since the second part of the event involves a drink at a nearby bar to count up the points and chat with the other participants. Friday night's bar was picked by Forrest from 52Martinis - it was Why Paris, which is small bar near Les Halles with a big drink list. I've been there a few times now, and I highly recommend the Bee Sting - it is delicious!

For now, Daisy is running a Sunday series the first Sunday of every month. The April 1st theme will be "Fish & Water", which means (duh) that each of the pieces will be related to fish and water.  And she'll also be doing a Kid’s Treasure Hunt on Saturday 7 April at 14h30, and a Parisian Entrepreneur’s THATLou, for Wednesday 25 April, at 18h30.

THATLou definitely gets two thumbs up from me, and since the theme changes each month, it is likely something I will do again. I think it'd be really fun to do for a birthday party or a group get-together.  It'd also be great for school groups or families with teens who think they are too cool for museums - to quote Edna: "Running full-speed through the Louvre makes you feel like you're in the Da Vinci Code". Which is 100% true. It's also renewed my desire to go back to the Louvre - I'd forgotten just how grandiose and beautiful it was in there.


**Yes, I just admitted that I sometimes watch ANTM.  Don't judge me.

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9 Comments:

Blogger daisydeplume said...

Sam,
You are an ANGEL for writing this up. Thank you! Am so happy you guys had fun, and look forward to seeing you down the road!
xx
Daisy
PS/ I just posted a quick round-up, but if you could send me your Victory of Samothrace photo that'd be great. Thanks!

March 25, 2012 at 2:27 PM  
Blogger Edna said...

hahaha you made an ANTM reference.

Glad you could make it! Sorry to the hubs for stealing you away from date night ;)

March 25, 2012 at 3:02 PM  
Blogger L said...

That sounds awesome! I wish there was something like that in Toulouse!

March 25, 2012 at 8:22 PM  
Blogger Alison said...

That sounds like heaps of fun! I would definitely need to be part of a team... I have been to the Louvre only twice (I live in New Zealand!) and both times I got pretty lost!

March 25, 2012 at 10:39 PM  
Blogger chickster said...

What a fun night! It sounds like a mini CitySolve Urban Race (the rage in the states right now) and thanks for sharing the cocktail lounge details - we might have to visit it the next time we're in Paris.

March 26, 2012 at 11:14 AM  
Blogger Jacquelyn said...

OMG! That sounds like a dream come true! I LOVE scavenger hunts!!! ...and in the Louvre?!? again, O.M.G. I am one jealous lady over here on the other side of the ocean! Glad you had a great time!!! Post some of those pics! Would love to see the other treasures you found! ~Jacq~

March 26, 2012 at 8:37 PM  
Blogger Mary Kay Bosshart said...

Great post about a wonderful evening! My only regret is that I didn't introduce myself to you. It's always hard to recognize people face-to-face when you only "see" them on twitter or online.

Our team didn't find the painting on the ceiling, so I would have loved to have seen your group trying to get that picture!

March 27, 2012 at 12:44 PM  
Blogger LC said...

Sounds awesome. I want in (though how does one get invited to events for bloggers?). And for the record, I like you even better for the ANTM reference. Even if I don't actually know you.

March 27, 2012 at 7:58 PM  
Blogger Karin B (Looking for Ballast) said...

I did not know until Daisy reported it in an email that you were there!!! Oh I am so bummed or I would have said "hi." :) Anyway, what a lovely write-up of the evening and wasn't it fun, though?

Love that you brought up ANTM. :D It was kinda like that, huh!

Okay, well, perhaps I will see you at another THATLou in the future! I think it is a great team-building experience. I'd like to try again, perhaps the next time with a different strategy. It would also be incentive to get one of those annual membership passes!

Take care, Sam & thanks for a great post about a fun evening.

March 27, 2012 at 8:38 PM  

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