The Marais and Fete de la Musique

Bonjour Everyone!
This morning, the first thing we did was pack up our suitcases and go for our nice tradition of coffee and croissants - which you never want to miss, because it's just different in Paris. Afterwards, we walked around the corner with our luggage to catch a cab which would take us to the Marais - a different area in where we have a studio apartment rented for our final week in Paris.
Arriving at the apartment in the Marais, we climbed the four flights of stairs, and saw that the apartment was quite small, however everything in it was very nicely finished. It was nice to be in a different area of Paris.
The Marais spreads across the 3rd and 4th er and is a historic area of Paris. It was known as the aristocratic area of Paris, and from the 17th century was known as the French nobility's favourite place of residence. When the nobility started to move to Faubourg St. Germain, the Marais became one of Paris' main Jewish communities. During World War II, the Marais was targeted by the Nazis, who were then occupying France.
The first thing we did after we arrived at the apartment, was to go for a stroll around the block to orientate ourselves to the area. We walked down Rue Malher which became Rue Pavee, and then turned the corner and walked past the Carnavalat Musee which is a museum specializing in the history of Paris. We turned the corner again and came onto Rue De Sevigne, on which our little apartment was situated - and Voila, we were orientated to our block.
We walked down Rue Rambuteau past the Centre Georges Pompidou which is a museum that houses mostly art of the 20th century. If you want to see bizarre, this is the place for you! The Pompidou is a strange looking structure on the outside. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture. You see all the functional parts, like the pipes, massive heating ducts, escalators, etc., on the outside. Fortunately we visited this enormous gallery once before, so we didn't have to go back (my feelings, not Ron's). Only one of us is a fan of modern art...
While walking in the direction of the Dehilleron cooking supply store again, we heard the voice of an angel coming from Eglise Saint-Eustache cathedral. We went in, and I must say this lovely, clear voice gave me chills. The band was only doing a sound check in this magnificent cathedral in preparation for their performance this evening in this massive, ancient cathedral, during the Fete de la Musique (festival of music taking place at many venues around Paris this evening). I have no words to describe how beautiful and interesting we found this music. We left and decided to come back later.
When we reached the Dehilleron Cooking supply store, I went back in to this wonderful, old store and purchased some knives, which I am excited about. We left, and Ron bought some shoes at another place. While he was busy trying on shoes, I had a nice conversation with a young man of about 25, who was born in Paris, but was coming to live and work in Montreal, Quebec next year. He explained he couldn't wait to "get out of Paris". He said, "Paris is a nice place to visit, but not to live in!" and also, "It is too crowded, and the people are selfish!" He said that if I was to stay stay in Paris for more than 6 months, I would see that he was right. I asked him if he had told his mother the plans yet - "No!" He explained he would tell her just before he was ready to go. I thought about his mother, and hoped she was enjoying every moment with her son, because unbeknownst to her, he would soon be moving far away.
We went back to the apartment to drop off our purchases, and then went over to L'As du Falafel (which means The Ace of Falafel. It serves Middle Eastern food that is amazing and is located on Rue Des Rosiers, in the 'Pletzl' Jewish quarter. I tried chicken curry Falafel, Ron had the lamb schwarma. Delicious. When you walk up place your order, you see a silly picture of Celine Dion glued just to the left of the window.
When we left L'As du Falafel on Rue Des Rosiers, we stopped by Ecole De Travail. There is a memorial plaque here which remembers over fifteen people (Headmasters) and young men who were present in this school when one day the Gestapo came and dragged them away, deporting them Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Poland. Amongst those dragged off, were three members from the same family, Joseph Kaite, Moise Kaite and Simon Kaite.
As we were walking down Rue Des Rosiers on our way back to hear 'White Prism' perform at Eglise Saint-Eustache, we heard a cracking sound and looked just left to see the bumper fall off the front of a of a small Nissan car. Right beside the car was a guy on a motorbike trying to squeeze between a row of parked cars on his right side and moving traffic on his left. In doing so, he had caught the edge of her bumper, ripped it off and and now it was hanging on the road just attached by a few metal threads. The lady driver was frantic, and kept driving foreword damaging the bumper further. The guy on the motorbike was astonished that he could possibly have been responsible for this! "Oh, Mon Dieu!" We carried on as several people gathered around trying to re-attach the rumpled looking bumper onto the car.
This incident brought to mind another mishap we witnessed while being driven by shuttle to the Charles DeGaulle Airport in Paris a few years ago. We had a French-Vietnamese driver who got too close to an unfortunate cyclist. The vehicle pushed her and her bike against a wire fence. He knocked her off her bike, but only stopped to shout at her in his very unusual accent. She shouted back, waving her arms, and limped off to one side pushing her bike. He didn't ask her if she was hurt. No apology. No acknowledgement of fault on either side, and no call to the police!
Finally after steering our way through people everywhere, we arrived back at Eglise Eustache and went inside this wondrous cathedral where we could already hear a beautiful, clear feminine voice. This band was called 'White Prism'. The woman stood at the front of the cathedral, and the band played. If you looked up, you could see the massive pipe organ above them. I reminded myself that Wolfgang Mozart had attended the funeral of his mother in this cathedral.
Following that performance, we stayed to hear 'Enzyme' perform. He is a young man who is extremely talented in using electronic sounds from piano and synthesizers. We found the music interesting and innovative, and the acoustics in the cathedral certainly enhanced the sounds.
Next an elderly gentleman with snow white hair, Jean Guillou, sat down to demonstrate the sounds that the pipe organ in Saint Eustache was capable of. He played the organ for over an hour. Not only was he a celebrated French composer and organist, but also is a teacher of the organ.
When we did leave Saint-Eustache we stopped at Cafe L'Esplanade on Rue Montorgueil in 1 er to listen to a band of gray haired guys sing old Rolling Stones songs. There were lots of people, and it was cool and breezy, but was still a fun atmosphere!
We left the cafe and went further down Rue Rambuteau and there was a very loud Italian band assembled under a large sign in pink letters which read, "Kiss Me!" Suddenly they broke out singing, " I Did It My Way!" by Frank Sinatra, and then, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," by Cyndi Lauper. The crowd sang along loudly to the words in English, and next the Italians belted out, "Somebody Told Me You Had Boyfriend!" by The Killers.
We continued on and rounded the corner to Rue St. Martin a large square in front of the Pompidou Museum of Modern Art, where we came upon a music coming from the most entertaining band we'd seen yet. They performed on the second floor of a building right across from the Pompidou while looking down on a very lively crowd. The vocalist sang and danced madly in the centre window, the his band members on either side of him performed in the other windows.There were people sitting all over the square listening to the music, visiting, having picnics and drinking wine. Some people were dancing vigorously to the music.
And then around the corner on Place Igor Stravinsky was a group performing "Mrs. Robinson," written by Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel. I noticed the crowds were growing larger as the night went on, and were guzzling the wine right out of bottles quite openly. It was like attending a large party taking place everywhere (which it was. Children were jumping and hopping around to the music. It was loud and festive everytime we turned a corner. There were even bubbles drifting through the air. If you are a person who loves live music, and are coming to Paris in June - then you would not want to miss June 21st, Fete de la Musique, the Summer Solstice celebration.
We ended the evening by strolling around Place Des Vosges, the oldest, (1604) planned square in Paris. We walked past No.6, which was once the home of Victor Hugo from 1832-1848. We stood and listened to a lovely voice similar to that of the old, famed French singer Maurice Chevalier singing, "I've Got Some Red Roses For A Blue Lady," into the chilly night air...