Let me quickly fill you in on what I was up to...
Friday night I went to see an Australian band called Angus & Julia Stone play at Cafe de la Danse, which is very similar to Music Hall of Williamsburg (both the venue and the neighborhood). It was only a 10-15 minute walk from my apartment which was very nice. The concert was great. I had begun listening to the band a few months ago in New York and really liked their music. When I noticed they would be playing in Paris during my trip I decided to get tickets knowing there would probably be other anglophones there. The show was sold out and everyone seemed to really enjoy their set.
Saturday night I had plans with someone (let's call him Mexifrenchie) I had met at the American group happy hour this past week. We went to a great locals wine cave up in the 18th. The place was perfect! It truly felt like I was in a french version of a bar on Bedford Avenue. I loved the beat up, vintage vibe and the music that was playing (apparently they like Local Natives in France too!). This was good because Mexifrenchie was concerned the place might be to "hippie" for me. Non! We took a walk from there towards his house, in the posh 8th arrondissement, where he had kindly offered to make dinner. On the way we stopped at a little Lebanese place to pick up some desert (Baklava-yumm). It smelled delicious in there and I made a note to come back for lunch someday. Dinner was tasty, nothing fancy since his kitchen is a little smaller than mine, but just good food. We had pasta with a homemade sauce and I even allowed him to use mushrooms (everyone knows how much I hate them), which I surprisingly enjoyed. Mexifrenchie was glad that I liked the mushrooms and so was I, that is, until I learned they were Paris mushrooms, a specialty of the area. So I finally found a mushroom I like and I can't get at home? Go figure!
Sunday was a full day! I met up with another friend, an American, from the American happy hour at the Musee des artes et metiers. It's an arts and science museum that he wanted to check out (he is an engineer at Apple). It was a nice break to be looking at something other than art for a change, but not a place I would go back to. After the museum we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather (while it lasted) and went to check out this popular pizza place by the Canal St Matin. It's called Pink Flamingo and they offer really interesting pizza choices. We split the Basquiat (Gorgonzola, Fig and Ham) and a couple of beers that we enjoyed by the canal. Later on we realized that we both just moved to the 11th arrondissement and actually live just down the street from one another. It should be fun to have a friend in the neighborhood.
Sunday night I made plans to check out a music venue down the street with a British guy I had been emailing back and forth with lately. He noticed my posting for an apartment on the American Meetup Group website and forwarded me his friend's email about subletting her place. It didn't work out, but we kept in touch. Also, it turns out that he is friends with the girl who runs the meet up and who I almost lived with- Paris is even smaller than New York if you can believe it! Anyways, we went to see this french ska/dance hallesque band called Toubab All Stars at a place down the street from me called Alimentation General (a mix between Arlene's Grocery and Zebulon). The band had the entire room on their feet, dancing and jumping and all around participating. It was amazingly fun to see a crowd that into the music in France or otherwise. A very fun night indeed!
So yes, now I am exhausted and thoroughly enjoying taking the day off from any scheduled activities, but stay tuned as I hope to visit Versailles this week.
xx
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