Paris en 8+ jours

My neighbourhood. No, really

Wow this place slows me down. Which is nice. I've got this 1921 guidebook I picked up a few years ago, but it's more an artefact than anything. Haven't set foot in a museum or gallery for two weeks, let alone been to any of these places:



Regression is in: I revisited my youth on a boat on the Seine via JR Ewing. They are sturdier here, the boats I mean. The atmosphere was odd. Was convinced the support band were American, but they spoke perfect French in between songs. This is a growing trend: went to a small sweaty bar full of floppy fringed youth singing indie songs I didn't recognise in engleesh. All tight jeans and high heels. Some things never change.

Which brings me to: everyone smokes. Yeah I know, it's France. But they even encourage it at school: our directeur standing on a mini podium told us that "no institution can resist the reforms which are now happening globally. I understand the smoker's plight, and as there are 100 of you, maybe just 3 a day out in the courtyard." Que?

And as it's term time, I'm getting to grips with what's au courant here. They seem to scrutinise ads on the metro and organise events in chapels. The latter is described as: une nuit d'interactions visuelles, sonores, choregraphiques et humaines and has got L'Ensemble Creation Collective Ephemere doing a laptop-piano-voice improvisation to a short film. Hope I can take my mum.

Almost-Parisian David Fenech is playing too (check his song with James Plotkin and Stockhausen Remixed amongst others.) His audioblog David F Presents has introduced me to Ned Rothenberg's clarinets and is really great. Oh and ps I want this.