Saturday the 21st was Fête de la Musique, and there were free concerts all over the city.
This is a huge event in Paris every year and I was so happy to take part in it!
My classmate Robert told me to go to the concert at the Invalides Metro station, because it would be all Canadian bands. The weather was spectacular and I walked past four other concert venues on my way to the “Nuit Boreale” Stage (aka, the Canadian stage), including a military band performing at the south end of the park at the Eiffel Tower.
The first group of the night was Marijosee (marijosee.com), a woman from Manitoba with a wicked voice and awesome band! When I arrived she was just killing it with crazy high notes and an amazing stage presence.
There were lots of people standing in front of the stage, and dozens more sitting on the grass in the huge field off to the side. There also some really adorable kids dancing their faces off just in front of me – they really had some great moves! 🙂 In between each of the 5 acts that night there was also a DJ from Toronto (Skratch Bastid), who was truly the very best DJ I have ever seen, and watching him is uber entertaining because you an tell he obviously loves what he does! He will be in Calgary July 19th at The Marquee! Go see him! (skratchbastid.com)
The next group at our stage was a rock band called Mise En Scene, another Manitoba group (an English band with a French name). I ended up hanging out with Marijosee and her rockin’ drummer Kathryn for the changeover into the next band’s performance and we had our own sort of dance party during the DJ’s tunes. Marijosee told me that they had also been at a festival in Switzerland before Paris and were heading back to Canada the next day. Sounds pretty good to me!
The next group was called Klô Pelgag, with a fantastic lead singer/piano player and a crazy band including violin, viola, cello, upright bass, and drums. The costumes really were the cherry on top, with the three female string players in bridal gowns and baseball caps, the drummer in a speedo and bathing cap and sporting a fake mustache, the bassist in a speedo, bathing cap, cape and flashlight spectacles, and the lead singer in a skeleton jumpsuit. They clearly have a lot of fun, and the lead singer has a great sense of humor and rapport with the audience. And in the middle of one song, the bassist did a magic trick centre stage. Yup, they are the whole package. (klopelgag.com) 🙂
I ran into my friend Robert by the stage, which was great, and we enjoyed grooving to Franklin Electric -the next group. They were from Montreal, and were phenomenal. The lead singer started the first song wailing brilliantly on a trumpet. I was delighted to realize that I had made my way to the very front and had an awesome view of the stage for the rest of the night. (I promptly went home and bought their latest cd on iTunes.)
The last group was a punk bank (Dracula Legs), and the crowd at this point was mostly made up of highschool/university students and they got a little crazy. A mosh pit was created, and several kids tried crowd surfing but didn’t get very far. It was a bit much by the end (yes, I am too old for this).
I ended up chatting with another ‘solo’ Parisian attendee, and we left at the same time and ended up walking up and down the Seine talking in French for about an hour, before walking home. Since the concert ended at about 1:00am, and we took the long way, it turned into about a two and a half hour stroll so I got home just before the sun came up. Haven’t done that in a very long while. What a night. 🙂
I had heard about an art installation in film at the Centre Pompidou by the video artist Christian Marclay called “The Clock” That I wanted to check out. It is a 24 hour film montage with thousands of time-related scenes from movies, where each scene contains an indication of time (for instance a watch or clock, or dialogue) that is synchronized to be in real time of the audience watching it. It’s unbelievable- not only is it edited brilliantly, there is a wonderful rhythm to how the various films relate and move forward cohesively.I watched just over an hour and then went to see what else the centre offered. There are many galleries there, and a great view of Paris from the top floor.
I warn you, a lot of photos are taken when a long weekend happens in Paris. And when I travel to a castle. and garden. and the opera. 🙂
It was busy, but not too crazy on the Chateau grounds. I was happy to wander along the pathways and explore the vast grounds, making use of all the trees on either side of most pathways for a little shade. 
It was a hot day! The line up for the gelato stand was neverending, from the moment I arrived until after the gardens were closed, there were at least 15 people waiting. 
The garden and grounds are free to explore, and there are some amazingly tranquil spots next to all the water features, fountains, and fields. 
On this particular day (or weekend, perhaps?) there were several groups of dancers around the south end of the grounds, dressed in simple black clothing, and doing very modern dance in three separate locations, to recorded instrumental/electronic music. It was interesting, and reminded me of the part in the movie White Christmas, where Danny Kaye dances with those women in purple dresses to a piece called “Choreography”. I watched all three groups and then decided to explore the castle. To get in to see the Chateau was actually the longest line up I have been in so far, but at least it was cool inside.
This Chateau is the most furnished castle in France, and the rooms that had been kept in spectacular shape were some of the most ornate I have ever seen- from wallpaper to frescos to furniture and embroidery, it was all very beautiful. There were also many portraits of royalty and wealthy families of Frnace, and often, a marble bust nearby of the same people. They were remarkable. 
After the castle I decided to find a shady spot to enjoy the garden and I sat by a quiet pond in a small enclosure of trees and bushes, and was sketching for almost an hour when I realized how eerily quiet the grounds had become. I came out from my ‘hiding place’ to see no other people walking along the pathways or sitting out in the sun. I then heard a faint whistle blown and quickly came upon a security guard on a bike, who was going around the grounds to inform the stragglers that the garden was now closed. Whoops! An interesting thing about France I have found is that all the gardens I have come across have fences and gates that can be locked, and they close every evening- so on Sunday at this particular location the closing time was 6:00pm. It was 6:10 when I actually walked off the grounds. 🙂
There are a lot of stairs in a tight spiral, so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who gets claustrophobic easily. The sky was clear and there was a nice breeze so we hung out at the top for a while. It’s funny, because about an hour later, and for a good portion of the remainder of the day, it was overcast and rainy. Good timing! 
There was, of course, a gift shop, and an area inside with interactive models of thebuilding you could manipulate to learn more about the sculptures and design, using projections both on a model and on the wall behind. 
We walked down the Champs Élysées, admiring the designer stores or ridiculously glam-ified regular stores like Abercrombie and Fitch (no, seriously, golden gates and a lit walkway that makes you feel like the red carpet and the Oscars venue is right around the corner). 
We stopped at this amazing building that looked political rather than religious, and discovered a grand church inside. 
We then found ourselves at the Opera-the Palais Garnier, and had to go in and see- especially since your ticket is discounted if you are a student! Huzzah! 
There were numerous machetes of shows produced there, and some amazing costumes on display as well. Gorgeous fabrics, metal chest pieces, and feather adorned helmets were among them. Sadly, I somehow did not get a picture of any of these. 
After going for dinner at the pub at Lisa’s hostel, we went back to the Marais for a little Spoken Word Paris- which hosted an open mic night in the basement of Le Chat Noir bar. There was quite a mix of entertaining poets, and we ended up only staying for one of the three rounds in order to still have time to meet up with a friend of Lisa’s who took us to enjoy one last crêperie before Lisa flew home to Canada the next morning. After some gourmet crêpes and great conversation, we all went our separate ways in the rainy evening that eventually turned into a thunderstorm. It was a fantastic way to end the unexpected long weekend! See? Lots of photos. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed them!
You speak one-on-one with an assigned partner: entirely in French for 7 minutes, then entirely in English for 7 minutes (or vice versa) , then switch partners. It ran from 7pm to 9pm and I spoke to six people in total. It went quite quickly and I made friends with the lovely woman sitting next to me (who was from the UK who moved to Paris in January), and the Parisians I chatted with included a lawyer, a retiree, three students and an urban planner. It was fun and exciting, but it was definitely a real challenge for me, since my nerves sometimes get the better of me when I try and have a conversation in French.. I definitely plan to do it again, and told my classmates all about it today. Several of them are hoping to try it in the next week or so.
I would also like to take this time to note, I have purchased a bread product every day since I have been here, be it baguette, croissant, or crêpe. I am also becoming a lover of coffee. Cappuccinos, in particular (or café au lait). Maybe it’s because everything tastes better in Paris…
I succeeded in buying a Navigo pass, and got photos taken at a Metro photo booth (yes, just like in Amelie- without the zoro mask and hat). It will save me so much money to have a local pass instead of buying separate tickets or a Paris Visite pass! It turns out that the Navigo pass is not advertised on the English websites for Paris Metro because it was never intended to be used by tourists. I feel so… What’s the word… Débrouillarde! 😉
It has been a long, long time, since I have done any sketching of any sort, and I feel a bit rusty!! After that I did a little people watching, and wondered if it really was this common to see so many people in (navy&white or black&white horizontal) striped shirts go by as I sat there. I stopped counting at 17 in the 15 minutes I was keeping track… :)
Montmartre was very busy!
His hand has been worn down to bony gold fingers from all the people trying to help him out of the wall. It was kind of creepy.
We then looked around Monmartre and truly stumbled across the Musée Monmartre. I love stumbling across things- often they are some of the best discoveries on a trip! I wish I had thought to say I am a student, as that would have got me a better price on my entry to the museum, but oh well. I’ll be able to use that for the next month while I attend classes at L’Alliance Fancaise!! 🙂 but it was very nice to have an audiobook be included in the price of admission, so as we walked through the garden and rooms of the museum, we could listen to all the extra details you wouldn’t know. I don’t often pay extra for this so it was a nice treat to have. There is a lot of art related to the history of Monmartre, Le Sacre Coeur, the Moulin Rouge, and many of the artists that lived in the house now transformed into the museum, like Pablo Picasso. There was also an installation dedicated to the new 4-book comic book (or really, graphic novel) completed in 2014 about Pablo Picasso in his early years.
After that we grabbed some baguette sandwiches on our way to Notre Dame and the Bridge of Locks. I had heard of the bridge but had never been, so I’m glad Diana suggested it. Notre Dame was busy, and we didn’t go inside- though that has been highly recommend and I plan to do so later this summer. We delighted in the fact we had wifi (or “wee-fee” as the Parisians pronounce it), in the garden of Notre Dame. We also came across a British girls choir singing several pieces in the park, which was great.
I could easily create a gallery of the photos from the bridge of locks, because there are so many cool angles you can get! Apparently you write your name and your sweetheart’s name on a lock, lock it onto the bridge (or at this point, to another lock) and toss your keys into the Seine, and your love will last forever. I also found out that ACTUALLY the Bidge at Pont de L’archevêché is the place to lock your lover’s lock, while the (MUCH more empty) Pont Ds Arts is for your ‘committed love’. Maybe people have just been misinformed… As we saw a bride and groom lock a padlock on this ‘lover’ bridge and take photos of it… Do they know?? 😉
There is a large map at the gate (and we also picked up a free paper map at the main office, but did discover that the numbers on each did not match up, FYI)… And went to see a few specific tombstones- like Edith Piaf, Chopin, and Oscar Wilde, to name a few. You could often find the most ‘popular’/famous grave sites by looking for the most flowers or gifts on them. Some graves are so old they are covered in moss and you cannot see the name on them any more. Others have built-in planters with well-manicured or overgrown plants and flowers. We also saw one site that had been completely taken over by a large tree that had grown out of the centre of the plot.
Nothing But Blue Skies 