Yesterday (Friday) was pretty eventful. It started out with a 1:00 PM movie that I had to go to at my program center (Since I am taking History of French cinema I have to go to three movies this semester. They show them every Friday.) It was an old school 1950s French flick with lots of staged slaps, harlots, a murder, and twirly mustaches. It actually wasn't that good. Oh well.
Patience and I had decided we were going to get together and have a Parisian adventure so I called her as soon as I got out of my movie. We decided on Palais Decouverte because there was an exhibit that we were really curious about due to the signs on the metro and such. (I will tell more in a bit.) On the way to the metro I saw a man walking a fluffy pure white dog that oddly looked like a cat. As he got closer, I realized...it was a cat. A cat on a leash. No one else seemed to stare. He was just strolling down the street with the white poof trotting beside him.
Palais Decouverte is a science museum, kind of family oriented but there is nothing like it in the States that I can think of. It is intellectual and yet totally awesome for kids. Somehow they are able to make things interesting, enjoyable, and applicable for 5 year olds and adults. It is more than "lets play with bubbles. Oh look at the pretty colors." And then a bunch of kids running around trying to pop them. No, it is not that. There are lectures/classes that go on in each exhibit. Patience and I found one in the genetics part about ADN (DNA to all of us Anglo-Saxons) and how we get certain characteristics and what everything means. It was really interesting, and yet there were also a bunch of little kids who were eagerly listening to the woman. You don't see that in the States. I think I learned more, and retained more in that little lecture than my high school bio class.
So what exhibit were we curious about? The nose. They had an exhibit all about smell, and the nose. Basically a bunch of stations that you could smell stuff through these little screens. Sometimes you had to guess what it was, and others demonstrated the differences in perfume, or how we remember and associate scents with memories or people. Pretty awesome, although I was feeling a bit light headed after sniffing baked bread, lilacs, garbage (ugh), cinnamon, etc for awhile. Patience and I sat down and just talked for awhile before we continued through the rest of the Discovery Museum. There was a wood exhibit, not so cool and not very popular. I wonder why... Optical illusions, geometry, outer space, and so on. We were a bit disappointed that they still had Pluto in there as though it was a planet. A bit outdated! They need to get it together. :-)
Plans for the rest of the night: Patience and her friend Woody were going to go to a gypsy concert Friday night, which sounded really cool so she and I decided to go home, grab dinner, and meet up around 10. It was in the 20th arrondisement which is basically on the other side of Paris from where I live. Oh well, I was really curious about this mystery gypsy concert. Woody is really into music and plays just about every instrument and has great taste in music so I definitely trusted his decision.
My older host bro, Romain, had one of his best friends over so we all ate together before they went off to watch a rugby game at a local bar. It was great, they have been friends for over 20 years and joke around like my family/friends do at home. It was fun for the three of us to be crude and crass as I am used to growing up with my brother and cousin, and so on. I fit right in!
Anyway, I left for the concert around 9, and got to the metro stop a bit after 10. The highlight of my long long train ride was a meticulously dressed drag queen and her flaming partner. The square jaw and adams apple gave it away. When I got to my destination, Patience and I trudged up one of the few hills in Paris to get to the Belleville bar and club. The concert was going to go from 9 to 5 in the morning! But don't worry, I did not stay that long. Woody was already there totally into the music. The first band that was on was "okay" according to him, but when we got there it was this AWESOME Klezmer band. So the lead guy is Ukranian, one of them was from Kosovo, another was from some other Eastern European country, but the band in general originates in Amsterdam. Go figure. They spoke in English because their French was dreadful. Their set lasted over an hour and we danced and danced. It was so cool, and the entire crowd was really into it. Now let me describe the fantastic crowd. They were not the people that you see strolling down the Champs Elysées with Prada bags and Chanel heels. They were Bohemian galore. Kind of what the French call BoBo, Bourgeois Bohemian, not dirty scoundrels at all. Just a lot of cool flowy dresses, kind of hippie-esque at times, artsy but not wearing all black artsy, some dreadlocks, lots of layers and pretty scarves, etc. I loved it.
After their set we decided to get some fresh air. There was an amazing terrace that overlooked the entire area. You didn't have to smoke to feel the effects, everyone else was doing it for you. But still, the view was worth it. There were all these little chimneys on top of the buildings around us that reminded me of Mary Poppins. I waited for the chimney sweeps to pop out in song, but it didn't happen. The last act that we anxiously waited for was called Gypsy Soundsystem, Woody had looked it up and loved it so we were eager to see what the deal was.
Down we went, back into the club (there is also a cool looking tapas restaurant on the main level). Gypsy Soundsystem was so cool. so it is actually one guy who is a DJ, but the music he does is great. It is like Gypsy-esque mixed with a bit of rock/electro/Middle Eastern fantasticness. Check it out! myspace.com/gypsysoundsystem It was the best music to dance to. No getting down and dirty stuff, just fun rhythmic move your body all around music. And that is exactly what I did for awhile, until I knew I had to go. The metro closes here at 2 or 2:30 on the weekends depending on the line so I knew I couldn't leave later than 1. I left at 1. But I had to pull myself away because I was totally into the music. So I hopped back on the metro and got myself home around 2:15 or so. The exhaustion hit me on the train ride so I was completely ready to crash when I made it to my room. And that was exactly what I did.
The end.
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