Paris! Fête de la Musique! Paris Noir! Picnic! Belleville! And Beyoncé!
Reflections and several suggestions for your next trip to Paris
I lived in Paris for four years and usually when I go back to visit, I’m trying to recapture some element of the time I resided there. Often that means seeing old friends—to this day some of my dearest friends live in the City of Light and it feels good to run around to see each friend or—on some rare occasions—gathering around a table with everyone. I also like to try at least one new restaurant (often if it’s good I will return at least twice during the same trip) and do a lot of shopping at random places like Petit Bateau (they have good t-shirts). This trip was different. First, it was short. I decided the inspiration was threefold: seeing the Paris Noir exhibit before it closes on June 30, seeing my friend Matty and hosting a picnic with them, and participating in Fête de La Musique—the yearly summer solstice carnival-like music festival that sets up live music and djs in every neighborhood in Paris (and in many towns in France). Beyoncé was a bonus because I decided, “why not see Beyoncé while I’m in town?” Once again, I found a site that specializes in last minute discount concert tickets and I pounced. Here are some of the highlights of my trip and some recommendations for where to eat and how to approach your next stay in Paris.
Paris Noir!
This phenomenal exhibit Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anticolonial resistance looks at 50 years of Black consciousness and artistic and intellectual dialogue in Paris. To quote the museum summary: “Black Paris relies on the Black condition shaped by the legacies of slavery and colonization, which gave birth to Afro-Atlantic cultures…the exhibition follows the history of African independence movements, the civil rights movement in the U.S., and the fight for equality in France at the end of the 20th century.” I mostly went to see images of James Baldwin, one of my heroes. The show is huge and filled with multimedia including short films, publications, sculptures, paintings from throughout the diaspora. I found myself drawn to two films—one includes a short of James Baldwin talking about the different contributions that everyone can make to liberation/revolution. The same short also focuses on Black Americans who benefited from the G.I. Bill and chose to take up residence in Paris—one of the people mentioned was Leroy Haynes who opened the soul food restaurant, Chez Haynes in 1949. When I was a culinary student in Paris, I worked at Haynes one night filling in for someone. Mr. Haynes had long since passed and the place was run by his wife. It was one of the wildest nights I experienced in Paris as I had no idea what I was doing and I was the server and had never been a server before—and the wife was cooking and in a bad mood and everyone got their food very late and I mixed up orders but I felt like I was connected to history that night—though not as the best employee. Anyway, I loved listening to James Baldwin and seeing an image of Leroy Haynes and his restaurant. I also loved a short video of Grace Jones singing La Vie en Rose. Romare Bearden’s Paris series was also gorgeous. Everything was gorgeous—if you can jump on a flight to Paris in the next 48 hours, go see this show!
Fête de la Musique!
One of the best memories I have of my Mom was at Fête de la Musique in Paris many years ago when I lived at Place d’Italie in the 13th arrondisement. We had just eaten dinner not far from my place and we were wandering around the base of rue Mouffetard and there was a band playing and many people dancing, including a couple dancing joyfully (and sexily? Is that a word?). My Mom was entranced and so happy to see everyone dancing and she danced too. Experiencing Fête de la Musique with her is something I love. The other thing I love about this festival is that it takes place on or a day after the summer solstice, so the day is particularly long and the sky stays light until about 10:30pm and you’re dancing in the streets with thousands of people of all ages and basically Paris is a party and everyone is in a good mood. My friend Matty and I and one of their Parisian friends met up in the 19th and wandered down streets with bands and djs playing and continued to Canal Saint Martin, where we decided to linger for a bit on one of the bridges to take in the massive crowd. The day was pretty hot, so people started jumping off the bridges and into the canal for a dip in the cool water. It was sweet and kind of horrifying to see because from our view you could look down into the river and see garbage floating on the surface but the mayor said the Seine is swimmable now so I guess the divers have more faith than I do in its cleanliness. It was fun to watch! We wandered around and got to the best dancing square of the night blasting jungle music. I was immediately transported to my college years and danced like I needed to exorcise something. We stopped for a pizza break at Ave Pizza Romana and ordered the Disco Inferno and a much-needed limoncello spritz and continued wandering.
Observations—Paris has always had an attractive population, but the number of beautiful people in Paris went up! So many hotties! WOW! Go for Fête de la Musique, stay for the hotties. And though I was not on the prowl, I feel confident that if you’re looking to flirt and meet someone, that is probably one of the best events to collect some phone numbers or leave with someone new.
Our group had a wonderful time but it’s worth noting that in the following days I read that several people (almost 150 according to NYT) got jabbed with needles at the festival. Knowing this, I think my approach for future Fête de la Musqiue nights would be to avoid very dense crowds so you’re not jammed up against thousands of people as you wade through a sea of people. There are streets without dense crowds and music is everywhere. I still 10/10 recommend checking out Fête de la Musique!
Picnic in Paris!
May you be blessed with good friends who are fun, wise, have big hearts, and generously host you and allow you to cook in their kitchen. Matty is one of my oldest friends—and former co-worker! They graciously hosted me and collaborated on making a gorgeous picnic spread the day after Fête de la Musique, which looking back was an ambitious project after a night of dancing. Focused on the vision, we created a simple menu, featuring our new shared obsession—artichokes—and got picnic fare from a boulangerie, a market, and the beautiful épicerie, Apertivus, on rue de Belleville. We quickly prepped everything and set off for Parc aux Buttes-Chaumont, where we met up with a couple of Matty’s friends and laid out our spread. We were all a bit on edge because we all woke up to the horrifying news that the U.S. had bombed Iran. The picnic was a means for us to talk about what’s happening and also get to know each other, talk about food and rest. 10/10 recommend that you have a picnic in one of the many beautiful parks during your next trip to Paris.
Beyoncé!
On my flight from Edinburgh to Paris I was surrounded by Beyoncé fans—I didn’t know it at first but I asked the person next to me if he was going to see Beyoncé and he said yes he was along with his friend on his left and then the people in the row a head of us said they were also going. I took a group photo of us and in that moment decided I should probably go see Beyoncé too. I made the strange argument to myself that it was actually a bargain to see her in Paris because I had been contemplating going to Las Vegas to see her but that would be a whole different trip and I’m already in Paris so no extra plane ticket required. Thanks to the site, viagogo, I easily bought a last minute discount ticket to see Beyoncé! It cost about $230. The seat was even closer to the stage than the one I had at the MetLife Stadium. It was super easy to get to the venue, Stade de France, via the RER B train. It was also super easy to get merch and get into the stadium—there are no metal detectors I guess because guns are illegal in France. Go figure! They just look inside your bag and the lines moved very quickly. I was seated next to a beautiful Brazilian woman and we became instant concert buddies. It was her first-time seeing Beyoncé and her friends had tickets right by the stage. I told her she was in for a fun night. We both screamed when Jay-Z came out for Crazy in Love and the entire stadium was in a jumping frenzy when he started N*ggas in Paris. The whole show was amazing—since I saw her first in the pouring rain it was extra special to see her without being freezing cold. It looked like she wore totally different outfits than the ones in New Jersey and the set list was slightly different, and Les Twins were dancing with her and I loved that! A magical night.
Places I ate in Paris! And places I enjoyed wandering around!
Fortunately for me, I stayed with my friend Matty who is a great cook and made several delicious meals. A total treat! We also went to a cool restaurant called Le Jourdain, where we had the most delicious artichoke with the best mustard dip; a great tartare de thon (raw tuna) with cherries; and fried chicken with Gochujang mayo.
My last night in Paris Matty had another friend coming to visit so I checked into hotel Trendy Canettes in the sixth arrondisement (best bargain I could find at about $200/night). It’s a neighborhood that I spent a lot of time in when I was a culinary student in Paris (and obsessed with St. Germain des Pres). Following a former colleague’s suggestion, I dined at Sauvage on rue du Cherche Midi, which was close to my hotel. I had tuna crudo with cherries and basil in a soy vinaigrette and a delicious maigre de ligne (fish) with a broccoli puree and zucchini followed by a deconstructed strawberry tart. Sauvage only serves natural wines and I had one glass of a delicious white and a glass of rose—see the photo for labels.
For coffee and a good people watching I recommend Koni on rue de Belleville.
Places I want to try next time!
The first two I saw the night we were out for Fête de la Musique and Matty said Schmoutz is great and I have read good things about Trâm. There are a million places to try in Paris but I find it’s good to start with a small list of two or three places and build from there.
Chateau Rouge!
One of my routines is to go to Chateau Rouge, a neighborhood populated mainly by West African and North African people, to get different textiles and at least one wax cotton bag. There’s also a bookstore near the metro stop that I like to browse in and there’s a cute park to wander into—the day I was there a soccer match was happening and that was fun to watch.
Massage!
I danced and walked a lot in Paris and by the end of my trip I needed a massage so I went to the place Matty recommended and got a 60 minute massage at Centre de Yang Zi. I belive the massage therapist’s name is Tien, but I feel like I am misspelling her name and didn’t ask her to write it for me but phonetically it sounded like Tien. She was amazing. I left the massage fully restored and rested.
Indeed, I left Paris fully replenished. I felt my Mom’s presence—she took me on my first trip to Paris when I was 15 or 16. I spoke French the whole time and remembered that that language is part of me. I had quality time with a dear friend. I learned about areas of Paris I hadn’t thoroughly explored before, like Belleville. I danced with strangers and friends for two nights. I reconnected with parts of myself—past and present—and got a completely needed mental reset and I’m feeling grateful.
Have a wonderful weekend!
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