J O U R N E Y S: P A R I S

So my best friend Diego and I went to Paris recently…

Paris is all about getting your culture and romance in. So the best things to do are checking out art exhibitions, going to the movies, eating delicious food, strolling through the skinny streets, and chasing Jarvis Cocker down train platforms. (Just kidding, I only did that ONCE.) If you’re all alone, you should read some melancholy French literature and cross bridges in the moonlight without throwing yourself into the Seine.



Another fantastic Parisian activities is le picnic. First, buy a baguette, some Brie, fresh fruit, a bottle of wine, and whatever else you fancy. Then head to the Père-Lachaise Cemetery (the first place I ever got drunk, how Romantic) or a grassy knoll, or if the weather is wet, enjoy your meal on the bed in your hotel room. If you’ve packed your ipod and speakers, put on some Serge Gainsbourg (Histoire de Melody Nelson) or Bridgitte Bardot (B.B.) to enhance your dining experience.

OUI
SLEEP: Good inexpensive hotels: Style Hotel, very cheap and cozy and quiet, though not the best location. 8, Rue Ganneron 75018 , 33 (0) 1 45 22 37 59. Or Hotel Tiquetonne, ace location near les Halles. 6, Rue Tiquetonne, 75002, 33 (0) 1 42 36 94 58


ART: Check out the view from the Centre Pompidou, the Delacroix paintings in the Louvre, the 60s floor of the Musée des Art Décoratifs (the design museum near the Louvre) and whatever looks good in Pariscope.


EAT: Go to Ladurée on the Champs Elysées (metro stop is Georges V) or in Saint Germaine. Buy a delicious pastry called La Religieuse and some macarons. If there’s someone you adore buy him or her a box of macarons-just make sure your love receives the gift within 2 or 3 days. Have French Onion soup at Le Pied au Couchon. Enjoy a croque monsieur if you’re not a vegetarian. Try a gallette. And Le Frommage! The Marais is full of tasty little restaurants too. Obviously, there are a million scrumptious places to go in Paris but I couldn’t afford to go on a gourmet tour on my most recent trip….



SHOP: You’ve surely heard it before, but check out Colette, and the vintage store on Rue Tiquetonne, around the corner from Rue Montmartre, by the Les Halles metro. The flea markets (Marché aux Puces) are hit or miss but I bought an old, faintly rusted dagger for two euros. Perfect for nestling between the antlers on my windowsill!

READ: Trax is a techno/electro magazine that also has listings of club nights in the back, so pick it up if you plan on going out, even if you can’t read French. Paris Vogue of course…Pariscope is like a low-budget Time Out, it has most listings for art exhibits and movies. Feeling moody? Bring some Camus or Sartre. (p.s. Les Jeux Sont Faits was the book that made me decide to learn French.)

NON
EAT: Worst café I’ve ever been to: Café Habana in Place de Cliché (not to be confused with my favourite Cuban joint in New York.)

GOING OUT: Le Night Life in Paris is expensive and not as cool as London or New York or Berlin. Here are your options: private party at some amazing flat (hard to find), major DJ at a club like the Rex , get glam at PONYSTEP, go to the movies (Paris has the best selection of films from every era all the time), or go out for a drink. Have a mulled wine at a café in Abbesses.

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A few things to pack; a bottle opener, a scarf, ipod and speakers or a violin (one time, when I was seventeen, I went to Paris with two fantastic people named Aaron and Dyresha, and they both played the violin and we had a magical time lounging on the balcony of our ancient hotel room with martinis and songs…) or a guitar, a sketchbook and charcoals, a camera, an umbrella, earplugs if you’re a light sleeper, and some chic warm clothes. Read The Beat Hotel by Barry Miles before you go, and the poem 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' by Jacques Brel.

And a few youtube links for you:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za_6A0XnMyw&feature=related



(montage isn’t accurate-how did kylie get in there?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99OzdwLoBcc


And a few movies you can rent-feel free to add to this list: Jules et Jim, Amelie, The Dreamers and Paris Je T’aime and Les Amants Reguliers.





NE ME QUITTE PAS
by Jacques Brel, 1959


Ne me quitte pas
Il faut oublier
Tout peut s'oublier
Qui s'enfuit déjà
Oublier le temps
Des malentendus
Et le temps perdu
A savoir comment
Oublier ces heures
Qui tuaient parfois
A coups de pourquoi
Le coeur du bonheur
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Moi je t'offrirai
Des perles de pluie
Venues de pays
Où il ne pleut pas
Je creuserai la terre
Jusqu'après ma mort
Pour couvrir ton corps
D'or et de lumière
Je ferai un domaine
Où l'amour sera roi
Où l'amour sera loi
Où tu seras reine
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas
Je t'inventerai
Des mots insensés
Que tu comprendras
Je te parlerai
De ces amants là
Qui ont vu deux fois
Leurs coeurs s'embraser
Je te raconterai
L'histoire de ce roi
Mort de n'avoir pas
Pu te rencontrer
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

On a vu souvent
Rejaillir le feu
D'un ancien volcan
Qu'on croyait trop vieux
Il est paraît-il
Des terres brûlées
Donnant plus de blé
Qu'un meilleur avril
Et quand vient le soir
Pour qu'un ciel flamboie
Le rouge et le noir
Ne s'épousent-ils pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas
Je ne vais plus pleurer
Je ne vais plus parler
Je me cacherai là
A te regarder
Danser et sourire
Et à t'écouter
Chanter et puis rire
Laisse-moi devenir
L'ombre de ton ombre
L'ombre de ta main
L'ombre de ton chien
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Here’s the translation with Monsieur Brel singing it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcvebWp8GtU

au revoir...