Fete de la Musique 2009-Part One

Sunday, 21 Jun 2009
Today is Fete de la Musique in Paris. There will be concerts, music, and dancing in the streets everywhere! This morning, I realized that I left my camera at Pierre’s apartment, so the first thing I did was send him a text message to ask him when I could stop by to pick up my camera. Then I went to the boulangeri and the Sunday market in my neighborhood…camera-less, I felt like I was missing out on something because I was not able to capture a digital moment. I realized that I didn’t really know how to “experience” the market without taking pictures of….everything. Was the Universe softly yelling at me, “Absorb it, Florence, don’t write it down!”?

When I returned from the market, I called Pierre, but there was no answer. I left him a message, telling him that I wanted to pick up my camera. I have a soiree to attend tonight at my friend Vanessa’s home. Vanessa is an American woman that reminds me of one of my aunts. She lives in Paris with her husband who works for a large oil company. I met her last year and another friend Patricia is using Vanessa’s home for the party. A musician, Paul Francis will be there to perform in honor of Fete de la Musique and I want to take pictures.

I worked on the Parler Paris newsletter website, (one of my Paris jobs) www.parlerparis.com in the afternoon, and still no word from Pierre. So I showered and got ready for the soiree. My plans for after the party, are to meet my French roommate from last year, Emilie and attend a few of the street concerts.

One last time, before walking to the metro, I called Pierre’s alternate cell phone, still no answer…I’m sure he’s with one of his many girlfriends. I left another message, asking him to call me. As I stood at the metro station, I saw a poster I wanted to take a picture of. I felt like a part of me was missing. How could I just stand there and read the beautiful poster without taking a picture of it? I smiled as I heard the Universe whisper, “Absorb it. Don’t write it down…..”

I arrived at Vanessa’s apartment for the party, and the smell of the food was amazing. The sound of laughter, French and English conversations, and the faint sound of music from the streets created a welcoming vibe inside her 5th floor beautiful 3 bedroom apartment filled with light overlooking rue de Rivoli, with a small view of the Eiffel Tour….(I wanted to take a picture) Everyone greeted me with two kisses on the cheek. There were about 20 people all from different countries, backgrounds and reasons for being in Paris.

The musician, Paul Francis
http://limprevu.blogspot.com/2009/01/paul-francis-troubadour-limprvu-le-2419.html
began his performance after we had cocktails and appetizers. One of the first songs he sang was, Like a Rolling Stone. For some reason, the song really moved me. You can listen to it below. Sometime in Paris, I feel like the lyrics of the song. I thought about Pierre and all the High Society parties he took me to last year, including Paris Fashion Week, dinner with the Chancellor of Germany, International bank parties and several fancy dinners on the Champs Elysees. Was this song the Universe’s way of warning me? I don’t know, but it spoke to my soul when Paul Francis performed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeErkbkavrg&feature=related

Later in the evening, Paul asked me if I knew how to sing. I laughed and said, “Yes! I’m one of those people who say they can sing, but really I can’t.” I sing like I dance. He smiled and asked me if I ever had voice lessons, and I told him only one or two sessions in my life, then he offered to give me voice lessons and handed me his card. Hmmm, I wonder where this adventure could lead? I told him I would consider it.

I thought about my camera during most of the evening, but I noticed no one else was taking pictures or even brought a camera. Were they there just to “Enjoy” the evening? Vanessa sat next to me in the living room during Paul’s performance and told me that her husband had taken her camera on his business trip when he left this morning. She said she really wanted to take pictures. Could she read my mind? I told her, I wanted to take pictures too, but left my camera at a friend’s apartment. Then she realized she could take pictures with her cell phone and pulled it out to take a few photos. She said she would email them to me. I realized that it was going to be a challenge for me to “Just Live.” in Paris without a camera.

We had a wonderful dinner prepared by Patricia http://www.parissoirees.com/, Paul performed another few sets of music, and my roommate Emilie arrived for the last few songs, then we left to experience some of the outdoor concerts of Fete de la Musique…..more about that in the next posting….