Samedi à Paris

Started the day with a phone call home (so good to hear the voices of ma mère et mon père), coffee and waffles à chez nous...then to a tiny curtain shop, just around the corner in rue Saint Paul, to discuss curtains for les fenêtres énormes in the apartment.  We have a tricky situation where the top frame of the window is only a few centimetres from the ceiling - and each window is 2.4 metres wide, with a 3.5 metre drop to the floor, so we need to be careful with weight of fabric and how they are secured to the rod.  Madame spoke a little English, Monsieur none - but with my little French and the aid of a pen and paper, we managed to discuss the problem with space at the top of the windows, view a range of potential fabrics and get an idea of cost.  Monsieur suggested it would be best for them to visit the apartment to assess the best way to install the curtains - would be available at 7pm tonight - mais oui!

We headed off to the Bastille to visit two favourite record shops.  Last year when we visited The Vinyl Office it was open but not a soul in sight.  We spent a half hour or so flipping through vinyl before the owner appeared through the door...we assume he had stepped out for a coffee and cigarette!  'Tis the Parisien way!  This year I found a spot to sit on a box while mon ami did his digging through the secondhand 80s collection and I practised my French, reading through the music flyers and the free magazine we pick up in the Metro.  Finally, mon ami is done, but...as I stand up he discovers a pile of potential gems propped behind the box I was sitting on...et, oui, quelques trésors!

Then it was on to Music Avenue...owned by, I think, the happiest man in Paris!  Always a smiling, warm greeting...and last year he sold, very cheaply, his own record luggage bag to Brent - after popping home at lunchtime to get it - so the vinyl would have safe passage back to Australia.  When you talk vinyl, there's an automatic spirit of friendship amongst this eclectic community of music lovers.  And, today, some real treasures headed out the door in the hand of mon ami...

Stopped for lunch at a brasserie...see if you can guess whose lunch is whose from the photo below!  The chair on the street in front of our table was used by the chef during his cigarette breaks (?!) to sit and soak up some sunshine.

Home for a brief time and then a short walk to the apartment to meet Madame et Monsieur curtains.  Parfait...tricky situation resolved, and we will meet them at their shop next Tuesday to choose
le tissu.  We really enjoyed the conversation with Madame et Monsieur...they spoke about the history of the Ile and the protection that is given to the buildings.  For instance, the staircase leading to our apartment is a classified monument, and the apartment windows are subject to rules of the coproprieté (body corporate), which means they cannot be changed without gaining approval of all apartment owners.

Home again for a brief time and then off to Cafe de la Danse in the Bastille for a gig.  We saw Olivier Libaux (of Nouvelle Vague) reinterpret, with the aid of two beautiful French singers - Karen Lano and Nathalie Réaux - songs of the band Queens of the Stone Age.  Fabulous venue, fabulous music...and, for us oldies, all over by 10.30pm...parfait!

Une superbe samedi!