Scavenger Hunts

I wrote recently about what made Paris such a great pedestrian city.  But I failed to mention the scavenger hunts!  Paris is fantastic for all types of scavenger hunts, which I discovered last sabbatical.  

https://pariswiththeellisons.blogspot.com/2018/05/communist-scavenger-hunt.html

I learned subsequent to that post from 2018 that some guerrilla artists had created small mosaic portraits of many of the central figures in the Paris Commune and hidden them (in plain sight) all over Paris.  After finding the two, I discovered a few more as well.  

One could engage in a focused search for some particular item on a walk, or one can just be surprised when something unusual catches the eye.  I mostly have just been surprised.  For instance, I have noticed at least three examples of small mosaics that have been used to fill in a hole in the road or sidewalk, just by chance.  I wonder how many more are out there.  

The most well-known examples of these tiny, unsanctioned bits of art are the "Space Invaders of Paris."  There are hundreds of small images of aliens and other strange creatures all over buildings, bridges, and monuments in Paris.  I believe it was started by a single artist, but has now become mainstream, with many artists contributing and City Hall even posting a map of where one can find all of the space invaders around town.

I have seen more than I can count, but here are a few photos I have taken of them.

Finally, you can read more about them here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/world/europe/paris-street-art-space-invader.html#:~:text=PARIS%20%E2%80%94%20It%20all%20began%20down,to%20monuments%2C%20bridges%20and%20sidewalks.