I’ve been in Paris for two days now, and am finding that I like it more than I had expected. In certain respects, it reminds me of the things that I like about New York – for instance, the fact that it’s a perpetual freak show of buskers, hustlers, and con men. In the face of Paris Overload, I had the realization that I never actually went to New York as a tourist. The first time I went was an overnight visit for an interview, and the second time I went was to live, so I never had that feeling of needed to do everything I wanted to do in four days. In Paris, I had to abandon that notion pretty quickly, and am taking the days as they come. I haven’t yet done any busking (it’s way colder in Paris than it was in Provence), but I have been up to other projects.
My first stop in Paris was Shakespeare and Company, the English language bookstore that offers beds to traveling writers. It sounded like the ideal crash pad; unfortunately, there was no room in the stable. So instead I paid 28€ for the privilege of not sleeping a damned wink in the crowded hostel, thanks to the high school tour group that was staying there and hollering down the hall to each other all night. In the morning, I packed up and went down the block to the Hotel Pelican, where for 10€ more I’ve got my own room.
The Pelican itself is an odd little hotel. Its place on the row is at most twelve feet wide, which means that there are two rooms per floor and a badly-leaning spiral staircase going up the middle. The plumbing has problems (I took a very cold shower this afternoon, and my sink doesn’t drain), my door doesn’t shut all the way (even when locked), but I slept like a rock all night and it’s a place to leave my stuff for a couple of days. For a 38€ hotel room two blocks from the Louvre, there’s not much to complain about.
Status of my projects for Paris: 1) Attend one more dance in France: check. I went last night to a bal folk at Les 3 Arts with the band Qu’Import la Jument. Great band. And I was pleased to find that most of the dances were the same ones that I had seen way down in Provence – apparently the popular repertoire is fairly small. So I danced a bit, watched and listened a lot, and talked to the band and the bar staff a bit. It’s maybe the only real trad bar in Paris: they do music several nights a week, all of it traditional (though not necessarily French). The barman gave me the name and number of an American old-time accordionist in Paris, whom I’ll be meeting tonight at a gig in the Northeast corner of the city. The accordionist for Qu’Importe la Jument gave me directions to Paris Accordéon, the premiere accordion dealer in Paris. I left a Jugbusters CD with the bar, and came back to the Pelican with a head full of Belgian ale and some missions for today.
2) Visit the Museé de la Musique: check, sort of. I went to the museum, only to discover that the permanent collection is temporarily closed for renovation until March. Bummer. There was a special exhibition on Serge Gainsbourg, but it didn’t have much to offer if you weren’t already a die-hard Gainsbourg fan (and I’m not). So that trip was kind of a bust.
So today I addressed 3) Find a diatonic accordion: check. I walked to Paris Accordéon this morning, and found what could only exist in France or Italy: a fairly sizable shop dedicated to nothing but accordion sales, repairs, lessons, books, CDs, etc. An accordionphile’s incestuous dream, and one that I shared for an hour or so, trying out different instruments, talking accordions with the proprietor, and generally being impressed that I was in an accordion emporium. I finally settled on a beautiful Italian model (what guy wouldn’t want a beautiful Italian model?) that should be good enough to play even if I stick with it for several years. I passed over the cheaper Chinese-made Hohners – they just didn’t seem to be built for a long-term relationship. I spent an hour or two in the park this afternoon getting better acquainted with the Italian model – she’s complicated, but I think we’ll get along fine.
So I’ve got a day left in France, and the checklist for Paris is complete. Tonight I’ll meet Ilan and his French old-time band, which seems reasonably likely to lead to some shenanigans. I’ve been asked to bring my fiddle. Tomorrow I’ll improvise – Ilan will be at work during the day, but Max should be somewhere in Paris by now, so maybe we’ll meet up somewhere. Ilan told me about a Cajun concert tomorrow night, so we’ll probably hit that for some fiddle and accordion greatness. And Sunday morning, I finally fly home. I actually feel like I could stay in Paris a few days longer. There’s a jam session at Les 3 Arts on Sunday, and a Klezmer show Sunday night, but my time is up.