Waltinho, La Maison, Ray Lema, Ratatouille and Gertrude Stein…
Hello, hello!!! Save yourself if you can.
The Paris Olympics are over and the Paralympics are in full swing. The city continues to ride the wave, despite the vast majority of people ignoring disabled people and their achievements which are much more impressive than those of normal athletes.
I need to take a deep breath to write this issue, because now I’m going to talk about the nightlife of this city that doesn’t stop.
The parties, the shows, the walks along Rue Mouffetard, the rides on the Velib. Paris is and always will be a party.
The playlist”Paris VIP Tourism” It came via zap and I liked what I heard. There’s Carla Bruni, yes, the former first lady of France, Brigitte Bardot and Zaz who once crossed Brazil like lightning.
Turn up the volume a little, sit in a comfortable chair and let life take you.
Paris is a party: where anything can happen
I have been through some serious problems in this so-called “city of light”. In 2007 we went to visit my brother-in-law, a guy who was still distant and far from being my friend. I lived in an apartment facing the Seine, high up, with a view of that miserable Statue of Liberty, miniature, but original.
We went from Düsseldorf to the French capital with a 1989 Wartburg 353, the Waltinho, bought for a friend and which I had to ship to Brazil when possible. In the meantime, since I was a PhD student and a Durango Kid, I used the trolley from time to time to make a few laps here and there.
We spent a few days in the city and when it was time to leave for Düsseldorf, the brother-in-law said goodbye and told us he was going to the Radiohead concert in Saint Denis. Before closing the door, ask if we still have money to lend. Of course we didn’t, but we gave 20 euros out of goodwill. The brother-in-law is like that!
The complete story of this saga with this cute little car in the picture above is Here on my almost defunct blog, Truta Photos. It was a series of coincidences and the hands of God that got us out of trouble, keeping us from spending what we didn’t have until we got home, safe and sound. And smooth sailing!
The visit to the Chapelle Notre Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse, the famous Miraculous Medal, was worth it. After this trip, we promised ourselves to visit it every time we return to Paris.
La Maison est tombée (The fallen house)
As the days went by and we lived together, my brother-in-law became a brother, a real brother! He is a Brazilian Forest Gump and plays the guitar a lot.
On one of these trips to Paris, he joined two other friends, Motoca, alias Matheus, and Rodrigo, to perform a show with the public.
They found a peniche, which turns out to be a bar or “show house” on a ferry that crosses the Seine. A floating bar. I became the band’s manager and started coordinating rehearsals.
Cunha, now without U, lived in a sort of village in Chaves, near Les Gobelins and Rue Monge, just off the Jardin des Plantes. It was the group’s headquarters. There were lively rehearsals there, fueled by Maker’s Mark and other nasty things.
The show was a resounding success. Great pop rock hits were played and sung in the rolling waters of the Seine. We passed the hat collecting the musicians’ fees and a fabulous 44 euros was collected. As manager I gave myself the right to keep 25% of the loot and share the rest with the band.
Happy, smiling and drunk, we rented Velibs and left from there early in the morning to go home, we didn’t even know where it was. My bike had a flat rear tire, but what is the lack of air after this gala evening of astonishing splendor in the world of Parisian show business?! Nothing, absolutely nothing could have shaken my self-esteem at that moment.
The next day, Motoca and I went to check out Les Catacombes, an underground cemetery in the center of Paris. It was there that most of the victims of the Black Death were buried. It is said that the calculations of the mathematician Oswald de Souza are on display there for anyone who wants to see more than 1 million skulls. A surprise.
Paris with family
The city is so versatile that it can be visited in many ways. Single, married, without children, with them, accompanied by the whole family, or simply friends, in short there is a program for everyone.
In 2012, we spent a few days there with my mother and two brothers, as well as Juliette. We rented an Airbnb near the Opera, and to our surprise, the owner was a writer who claimed to be famous. We shouted “Truco, thief” in her ear as soon as we got the keys and went upstairs.
The next day, walking down Rue de Rivoli, I entered a bookstore. And the owner of the apartment was not really a writer? There it was, exhibited along with so many other great pieces of French and international literature.
There were indeed books everywhere on our Parisian landing. Most of them were his, perhaps entire editions abandoned and rejected by surly booksellers without understanding the art represented there.
I remember well the family photo we took on the Pont Neuf and its thousand love locks. The city council sent everyone away for fear that the bridge would collapse. Poor things that made their promises of love there…
Ray Lema & Rodrigo Viana: Music of the highest quality
Rodrigão from “Maison est tombée” is not easy. The boy is the guitarist of Ray Lema, an African musician who has lived in Paris for decades. He plays directly in the best jazz clubs such as Duc de Lombards and others.
At Easter 2011 I helped Don Rodrigo carry his amplifier in the infamous Parisian subway where there are no elevators, only stairs. And they are not rolling! The life of a musician is not only glamour, far from it.
I wrote these lines on these days there, eating hard-boiled eggs for breakfast and drinking Leffe for dinner.
Watch Rodrigo, Ray and the band play Here.
Must see and read
FILM: Ratatouille (2007). I Wanted to Be Remy.
Without exaggeration, I have seen this film about twenty times with and without my children. And I do not tire of it. To this day, for me this is the best animation ever made. It is insurmountable. Technology can evolve as much as it wants, no one will come close.
The friendly Parisian Remy appreciates good food and has a very sophisticated palate. He would love to become a chef so he can create and enjoy culinary masterpieces to his heart’s delight. The only problem is that Remy is a rat. When he ends up in the sewers near one of Paris’s finest restaurants, the gourmet rodent finds himself in the perfect position to make his dream come true.
A hymn to gastronomy and savoir de vivre.
BOOK: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas / Gertrude Stein. The Center of the Universe in the 1920s.
A valuable account of the origins and creators of modern art and literature at the beginning of the 20th century.
Gertrude Stein’s salon, at the legendary number 27 Rue de Fleurus, brought together friends such as Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway, Jean Cocteau and Scott Fitzgerald, all still young and unknown, in informal meetings and frequent parties.
The author has created her biography in the most peculiar and ingenious way possible. The narrator of the book is Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude’s life companion, who allowed her to speak about herself in the third person and, without false modesty, praise herself.
The writer knew the importance of her work and her circle of relationships. She is credited with the expression Lost Generation, which classified a group of American writers such as Ezra Pound, TS Eliot, Hemingway and Fitzgerald who lived in Europe between the First World War and the crisis of 1929.
Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) was Jewish, born and educated in the United States and adopted France as a way of life. In addition to being a writer, she was an art collector and influencer, a feminist and the avant-garde personified.
This is a great book to learn about the history of art and literature in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. I read a paperback edition of L&PM a long time ago. I need to go back to Janemamãe’s house and save her, but I fear I have become the book on the matriarch’s bedside table.
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Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
