Groove is in the Heart: The France Epic: Paris Never Sleeps

As they say here in Brandenburg, "Jetzt kommt es!" Meaning, essentially, here it comes at last. Be warned that this post and the next are loaded with photos and little story snippets. Mostly photos though. Katja has become a real photobug, and I find many of her shots to be really good. She has a particularly good eye for light, moments and angles. Hopefully you will all find her work pleasing too.

We stayed at the only hotel I've ever stayed at in Paris - and the one we've stayed at 3 times together now. Hotel Marignan, 13, rue du Sommerard. It's so well situated, one block from Boulevard St. Germain in the heart of the 6e (Latin Q.). It really is nothing special, but very functional in terms of location, price, included (albeit not wonderful) breakfast, and free laundry services (critical...). Mostly though, it's clean, they know us and they're rude to us anyway, and we always get a room with a little balcony. No A/C though, and in the heat Europe has been having lately, that kinda sucked for a couple of hot nights there.

What Bourdain might call a "perfect meal"

In terms of experiences had, the 10 days in France felt so much more like a month. The week in Paris was just loaded with events, several of which were unforeseen yet fun to be a part of. In spite of the fullness and go-go-go-ness, it was a very relaxed week and thorougly enjoyable.

In addition to all our planned outings we also just happened to be in Paris for the 'Fête de la Musique' celebration in which more than 250 musical acts went up around Paris on this one night. The festival is country-wide, and almost every train station we went through on our way down to the Côte d'Azur advertised a musical line-up that was part of the Fête. The day of the festival was also the day we went to the Rodin house. Katja was totally stoked about the festival and had an idea that it would be all kinds of rock music, DJ's, reggae and so on. However at the Rodin house there was a choir, a harpsichord, viola and other strings; they were playing what I assume was the 18th century equivalent of chamber music.

The Balzac Memorial (1 of 2 bronzes in Paris, the other is in the Metro station down the street), and The Thinker (after last semester, I know what he's thinking about now...)

Katja was unthrilled. I too had had the idea that the 'Fête de la Musique' would have an emphasis on more modern music. We just hadn't realized the scope of the festival. All the way home we saw street closures, bands setting up, lighting systems being assembled, and heard the sound systems all over the city being calibrated and tested. It was a rocking good party.

The Hand of God and The Lovers

The man definitely knew how to face his demons

Later that night we were seeking a restaurant based on memory that we'd had fucking great duck at last time we were in Paris. I knew the name and the general location, but my photographic memory failed me insofar as I got within half a block and still couldn't discern the restaurant amidst the chaos of the hundreds of people on every block of the 6e and the Marais. We finally gave in and consulted a phone book for the street address. When we got there we were hooked up right away with the last streetside table and had a ringside view of the slow parade of people moving from one act to the other... and the dinner music was, well, eclectic.