Part II – Paris, City of Light and Death

I finally managed to upload the last of my photos from last weeks trip and am in awe of how much passed before me and how much I pass through. I have, in total, 791 images from the holiday (200 of which were shot at The Cans Festival alone) so it is no wonder with all that editing, uploading, tagging, naming and sharing that I haven’t gotten around to writing the stories that go with them. Luckily for me I live in Austria and its the month of May so I have the next 3 days off to catch my breath, do some laundry and tell you a tale or three…

Part II – Paris, City of Light and Death

“If you want to visit Paris, the best time to go is during August, when there aren’t any French people there” ~Kenneth Stilling

I’m not sure I agree with this sentiment as I met many, many sweet Parisians during my 4 days and nights in that epic city but, if I’m being honest, I can understand why they have such a bad rap. Every person that I have ever spoken to who has been to Paris gets a twinkle in their eye when they talk of their time there so I’ll admit that, though I had no agenda aside from Ween, I had very high expectations. Now my eyes also twinkle like the Eiffel Tower at night when I speak of Paris and I hope that my admiration and love for that city translate with my photos…

The train left me at Gare du Nord with about 6 hours to kill before Jamie arrived. That station is a scary version of Port Authority so I hauled out of there and found a random hotel where I could stow my suitcase and then headed to a cafe to sort out a plan. The sun was shining and, though I was tired, I decided to make hay by ‘running’ to Montmarte to try and catch a sunset over Paris. I opted to walk there and found that Paris is actually quite a large city. It was a long, hot walk so when I finally arrived at the bottom of the hill I was winded. Knowing that Scared Heart is the ‘highest point in Paris’ should have tipped me off about what I was in for but…Either way, I made it up the stairs and fell in love with Paris for the first of an infinite number of times that day…

It might sound cliche to you but I was constantly falling in love with Paris. People don’t curb their dogs, the rude youth culture pisses in the Seinne, people throw trash wherever they want to and some Parisian waitors were enormous cocks to me but even with all of that nonsense it struck me as the most beautiful city I have ever seen. A city I could live in, love in and stay in…

I finally made it over to the Bastille where our hotel was and Jamie and I wandered around and found a nice and down-homey dinner (warm goat cheese on toast over salad) and then sat by the river and watched some rude kids have some epic picnics all along the banks of the Seine. A baguette for breakfast the next day saw me energized enough to walk from the Bastille to-and-from the Champs d’Elysee getting a taste of the Toullieries, Louvre, Arc de Triumph and everything in between. I was very much in awe of the delicious looking confections in the windows, the beautiful people and the lovely and mellow pace.

“dichotomy”

After a quick refresh it was time to head to the club to see Ween. Mick had broken his foot after the ATP show in Camber Sands so this was his first show laid up in a chair. The club was cool, the vantage points for pictures were great and the Pandy Fackler and Did You See Me were awesome. It was a HOT (literally) and awesome show.

The next 2 days and 2 nights in Paris were awesome. We moved to a hotel near the Eiffel Tower and proceeded to ’slay’ the town. Both days were anchored with a fairly morbid destination (Pere Lachaise Cemetery and the Catacombs) and the rest of the time was spontaneous. Eating, drinking, shopping, collecting street art and communing with fellow-Vice’ers was the deal and it ruled.

Drinking water from a fountain near Oscar Wilde’s grave I wondered if I was drinking in his, among others, essence and genius…Walking among thousands and thousands of bones in the Catacombs was another surreal experience. It was amazing, terrifying, beautiful and humbling to experience all that death so intimately.

Oscar Wilde’s grave

All in all, I was very much at home in Paris and look forward to being there again soon (Sept for work, I think). Perhaps then I will attempt my “Black, White and Red” weekend (Black and white film, red wine and no agenda) in case any of you want to join me. We reluctantly packed our bags and headed out of town sad to leave but very much looking forward to the AmsterJam!

I only shared a few pictures with you here but, if you have a little time you might like to visit these related albums:

• Paris – France
• StreetArt – Paris
• Ween – La Maroquinere