The French being the French, we’re celebrating “the day” over a whole week!Do you think Juliette Récamier would have dreamt that one day we would celebrate International Women’s Day? Probably not. And how does one celebrate it nowadays? Well, with some rather bizarre events, if the Parisian line-up is anything to go by. Not much going on, apparently, with a couple of events adding the day as an afterthought rather than as a central theme.

Take, for instance, Toutes en Moto (which translates something like “Hey ladies, get on your motorbikes!”) on Sunday 6th March 2011. Organised by and for women who enjoy motorbikes, they’ll be meeting up just in front of the Château de Vincennes (here) at 2pm before driving through the city. And if you have a male friend who would like to accompany you, that’s cool too.

You can check out the route here. Facebook group (in French) here.

The Paris council is organising “Femmes en Sport” here on Sunday 13th March 2011. It turns out to be a free seance of “nordic walking” (?), running, Swedish gym and African dance. International indeed! And for the laziest of women, there are free shuttle buses to get you there and back even! More info (in French) here.

And finally, one event with a serious side, and exhibition that aims to inform you about the horrific situation of women living in the Congo. The average lifespan of women there is 46 years old, and 1.3 million adults there are currently living with AIDS. The exhibition is called Congo/Women, and you can see it at the photo gallery of BETC Euro RSCG (here) form Tuesday 8th – Sunday 13th March 2011, from midday – 8pm.

Organised by Human Rights Watch,the exhibition includes photos by four photographers, and will most certainly move you. At least someone is reminding us that being a woman in certain parts of the world is far from easy.BREAKING NEWS: the French Post Office has just announced their contribution to the day. A stamp. More info in French here.