I arrived in Paris on Thursday morning. I slept all that day, and spent the following day acquainting myself with the neighborhood and getting myself registered at the Alliance Francaise. The next day, Saturday, I went off to explore the rest of Paris. I went right to the center, to Ile de la Cite to see NotreDame and check out that area. I had been there before, so it seemed like a good place to start out. I visited the church again, took some time to really see it though. If you can manage to get some alone time, anywhere inside really, where the dim of tourism isn’t surrounding you, it transports you. You really get a sense of place and time. This church, built almost 1000 years ago. You stand where people prayed hundreds of years ago. Very eerie, but cool at the same time.
Anyway, you can only spend so much time inside, so i headed out, around behind the church with no destination in mind. I saw some people playing and making music on the bridge that connects the two islands. The sun had come out, so the bite of the wind was a little more bearable. I went and stood for quite a while and listened to the bands. They sung in french, german and english. Having been so recently thrust into this non-english speaking place, i clung to their words. I tried, as I had tried in Germany, to decipher whether or not they were native, or just had really good english accents. I couldn’t tell. The base player was gorgeous though. They placed jazz and blues and swing. It was awesome. Then they took a break and another group started. A jovial black man playing drums, completely ignorant of the bands’ dress code. A tall older gentleman playing the base. A very tall, lanky fellow playing the tenor sax. And a small, attractive in a Bogi kinda way, man playing a small metal guitar, and singing with the most wonderful southern accent. I listened to their entire set, and at the end took a flier. They were called Rene Miller’s Wedding Band, and besides playing on the bridge whenever it was nice, they also had a regular gig at the Freedom Pub on Monday nights. I introduced myself to Rene, the guitarist, and promised to see them on Monday.
Monday night, after class I looked up the address of the Freedom Pub and figured out how to get there. I had to change metros once and got out at L’arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs Elysees to Rue de Barri, where the bar is located. There were flags from any and every place that speaks english hanging outside. I went in and didn’t see anyone. I went and sat at the far end of the bar, there was a big dog that I said hi to. I got up and walked back to the front, and saw Rene. I said hi, he recognized me from the bridge, sat me with a group of German tourists who had also come from the bridge. I got away from them quickly and sat at the bar. After one set the base player came and struck up a conversation. George is his name, he and I still stay in contact via email. The sweetest man, South African, amazing musical. He let me play his base once, it was such an experience. When you play the base, though it stands on it’s end pin, it’s body rests against yours. When you pluck the stings the entire base vibrates, which transfers to your body. It’s a very sensual experience, without being sexual, if that makes sense.
After that night I starting seeing them as often as possible, especially as the weather got nicer, they were on the bridge as many as 4 days a week, and every Monday at Freedom. I actually met my French friends at Freedom, they had come to drink, and we met while having a cigarette outside. To Jean Guillame’s credit, he though I was French, and starting talking to me. The nodding and smiling really can only take you so far….
A girl from London, in Paris for the same reason as I, but for a longer period of time sang with them sometimes. She had a perfect voice for the songs they did. At the very end of my stay they did a stint on Rue Muftard(sp), which is an awesome little street that cuts through the 5th. On the weekends the street becomes an outdoor market, everything; cheeses, wines, fruits and veggies. So the band set up in a little alcove along the market and played. It was awesome. I hung out with them all morning, got a kg of cherries from the market and munched while I listened. Others had set up to play along the market as well, I wandered and sampled, buying a few CDs. Later in the day there was a music parade. Different bands signed up to play on these old fashioned buses filled with people, and drive through Paris for an hour. The band got me on their bus. Very shortly after we started moving, our bus broke down. Too old I guess. So, after a while another bus came and got us, but it was a regular city bus. We all piled on and the band played in the middle where the back doors are, while we drove around Paris. It was such an experience. It was my last weekend in Paris, and it couldn’t have been better. For the outside the bus looked totally normal, just running it’s regular schedule. But then you notice there’s a band in the middle! It was so surreal. My two favorite things, Paris and that music, together. I could not have asked for anything more.
**To the best of my knowledge Rene Miller’s Wedding Band is no longer together, they broke up shortly after I left Paris. I have not kept up with Rene and I don’t know what he’s up to. I correspond with George regularly, and though he is rather cryptic, from what I can gather he and his son have started a new band which plays around paris. George sings and plays guitar, his son, Adam plays the base, a few of the other alternates I remember from other bands and Rene’s fill in the other spots. Some day soon I hope to get back to Paris and regain my group-y status. Hopefully I will go abroad with school to Paris soon!!
