Musée Mécanique

Or Part II: What I Did Next On the First Day of My Vacation

Dusting off this here thang, and getting back to our regular posting schedule. Just kidding, I’m still only going to post when I remember to.

With that said…

If there is a heaven for people like me, the Musée Mécanique is it. And I’m only calling it heaven because actually getting there is hell incarnate. Or more like spending eternity in limbo, then take a wrong turn on a monday and end up in heaven by accident. There are throngs and hordes of people to wade through before getting there. Forget the buses and trolleys and cars trying to run you over, or the price gouging for everything from food to parking…it’s the people. So. Many. Of. Them.

But it’s all worth it in the end, and so gratifying because once you finally get there, it’s everything and then some. Automatons! That work! Puppets! That sing! Automated monkey bands!!!

One of the first things welcoming you (if you come in through the street side) is Big Sally:

There’s no real way to convey how so very big she is. Imagine Grandma Fortune Tellers, and multiply height by about three. HUGE. I love her. Feed her some quarters and she animates and start laughing the laugh of your nightmares. It sounds like the soul of a million children dying in the night. And look a that face. The face only nobody could love.

I’d read about this place on Atlas Obscura, and basically decided that if we ended up doing just one thing the whole trip, this would have to be it. No questions. So if you find yourself with a bagful of quarters left after laundry day, and just so happen to be in or around the Wharf in SF, go. The best part? All of the machines work. All. Of. Them. Wanna see some scandalous nudie pics? Those work, too. Scared of automatons? It doesn’t even matter. Just go and tell yourself you’re there for the stories you can bring back home. Isn’t that what this life thing is about?