Kevin
Friday evening I went to a Jazz Club in the Marais, where I was, at first, an audience member of three or four people total, and they were actually really great (female singer, bassist, pianist, drummer), so the small audience made it all the better. Even before the concert, I got to talk with the singer for a few minutes! After about an hour and a half of their performance, there was a bit of a break, followed by a "jam session" with mostly the same musicians and a few here and there from the audience. (At this point, the audience was about 20 people. I guess people in Paris just like showing up late to things.) At the end, I even sang with them, "It Don't Mean a Thing," which was one of the scariest moments of my life--unlike playing for tourists on a popular street of Bordeaux, these people knew exactly what a good or bad musician sounded like, and the pressure definitely mounted. Luckily, everyone was incredibly kind and complimented me a lot!
That night, I found, on the Metro, a sign for a musical instrument museum, something NO TRAVEL ADVISOR EVER said anything about for Paris, so I dropped my plans for visiting art museums and spent six hours yesterday at the music museum. It was amazing. It was also in an area of Paris (Porte de Pantin--I have several photos.) that's off in the northeast corner, far away from everything, yet incredibly nice. I'm really glad I found it before heading out. Afterwards, I went to a picnic and then an Armenian bar with some friends, before heading home for the evening.
This morning, I spent nearly an hour and a half researching the schedule and locations for the Tour de France, and I think I found the best viewing spot in Paris. It's on the southwest corner of Paris, nearly impossible to get to by Metro, and thus, tourists probably won't be flooding that area--they'll wait in the Tuileries Garden or Champs-Elysees, while I'll be very close to the cyclists. After they finish where I am, though, I can probably just take a Metro to Pont Alexandre III and see the rest of the race in a more popular area, as well! I'm well prepared for this.
Beforehand, since I'm going to arrive at Mairie d'Issy in about four hours, I'm going to a linguistics museum (once again, never even heard of) this afternoon. This'll be a really cool way to spend my last day in Paris.
Beforehand, since I'm going to arrive at Mairie d'Issy in about four hours, I'm going to a linguistics museum (once again, never even heard of) this afternoon. This'll be a really cool way to spend my last day in Paris.
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