At Place du Marché Sainte Catherine
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Your taste of life in Paris and France
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010 • Paris, France
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The musique continued all through the wee hours of the morn, keeping the residents of Paris entertained till dawn. Monday night was certainly one of the most pleasant "Fête de la Musique" editions I can remember, although there are fond memories from each and every one that have blurred over the years to one big round warm sentiment about the festival.
I had started celebrating the festival a bit early on Saturday night by listening to the amazing singing and guitar-playing of Paco El Lobo at Flamenco en France. A reviewer on rootsworld.com wrote of Paco El Lobo "Towards the more traditional side of the spectrum is the singer/guitarist Paco El Lobo. His raspy, beseeching voice will be immediately familiar to Gipsy Kings fans, but his recording is sparser and more free-form."
Monday night we made a particularly smart move by scoring a large table outdoors at the early hour of 6:30 p.m. at a restaurant on Place du Marché Sainte Catherine that was expanded little by little until all ten of us were comfortably wining and dining while the musicians got in gear for their performance. We were expecting mediocre food and were pleasantly surprised that it was extraordinarily good and inexpensive -- at the Bistrot de la Place, number 2 on the Place.
Friends had brought other friends. I was the only permanent resident of Paris, but with amazing synchronicity, 30% of us at the table were graduates of the same university the same year(!) -- the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, class of 19__(do I dare tell?). Out of a graduating class of about 500, to have had 3 at the same table by sheer coincidence surprised us all and kept us reminiscing and discovering mutual friends between us all the while we sat there.
On the stage the musicians were 14 year-olds with electric guitars and aspirations to be the next Rolling Stones performing in front of a large following of young girls dancing to their pop rock. It was a perfect beginning to a great evening in the The City of Long Lasting Light.
After dinner, we wandered around the corner into one of the courtyards of the Musée Carnavalet where Mélo'Men were performing -- a choir of about 60 amateur gay singers. Among them was an old friend who took the center top spot thanks to his tall stature. The choir was founded in 1994 under the name of "Choeur International Gai de Paris" (CIGAP) and perform at various venues throughout the year. An upcoming concert in Paris to make note of is November 19, 20 and 21 at l'Oratoire du Louvre, 145, rue Saint-Honoré.
When their delightful concert ended, we headed up rue Vieille du Temple and discovered two Spanish guitarists tucked into the tiny rue Debelleyme that drew a big crowd who danced on the cobblestones in front of them. I could have stayed in that spot all night long, but instead headed over to the Mairie de 3ème for more music where sadly the seats were being stacked as the concert was just over.
That did not stop the other musicians playing all night long along rue de Bretagne and the side streets, nor did it stop us from landing "chez moi" for midnight drinks and conversation. Another Fête de la Musique is past, and more wonderful memories have been added to the one big round warm sentiment.
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
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