Une soirée bordelaise
The day passed slowly yesterday. I watched some (terrible) movies. I read some Philip K. Dick. I did some yoga and worried about my upcoming final and exposé for the history of France under Louis XV on Wednesday, neither of which I can study for due to my lack of book and notes, the campus being closed, etc. France conspires against my productivity.
The evening was much better. The bar by the cathedral was having a party for its owner's birthday, and a local band I'd met at some open mic nights around town was playing. They played an hour set, during which they debuted a new song and played a lot of my favorite covers. We all conspired to meet up at the Black Velvet later on, and parted ways.
I went with some people on a guitar-fetching and kebab-buying run to the neighborhood south of Place de la Victoire on Cours de la Marne. We even stopped to buy some Kronenbourg. I taught them the English phrase "beer run". You know. Spreading the American college culture.
We hung around at Clémentine and Loïc's apartment for a while. There was Kro to be drunk. They played some of the songs they were considering doing at open mic, plus some unrelated Bob Dylan, like "Hurricane", which I've been listening to a lot the last few days. Happy coincidences. I'm kind of impressed someone would take the time to learn a song as epically long as "Hurricane" in their second language.
We walked to the Black Velvet, which I hadn't visited until last week for all that I'd heard a lot about it. It's down by the Garonne, near the reflecting pool and Place de la Bourse and la Porte de Cailhau. Many of the people I see at open mic nights elsewhere came, and it was a lot of fun. Nathalie played "5 Years Time" by Noah and the Whale and I sang. I did her harmonies for "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls, too, and I think both of those went okay, for us not having played them together before.
When the music ended and the bar was approaching closing time, we walked down to the river and sat on the stairs below the reflecting pool. Nathalie and Loïc played a lot of guitar. And glockenspiel. We all sang.
I was surprised by the number of people out and about at 3 a.m. in Bordeaux. Some people just biking or rollerblading. Or biking while hold on the hand of their rollerblading girlfriend, which strikes me as an awkward mode of transport. But like on any night when the weather is passable, there were French people hanging out, smoking, and drinking wine from the bottle.
Lots of people kept stopping by to watch or to sing with us. Some of them were very drunk. Some of them were homeless. Some of them were just strange, like the two girls who told us they were amateur beatboxers and sat down to jam with us.
Eventually it was 3:30 and I was cold, so I walked home.
Hopefully I'll post about today's festivities later, because tomorrow I'm going to Arcachon.
The evening was much better. The bar by the cathedral was having a party for its owner's birthday, and a local band I'd met at some open mic nights around town was playing. They played an hour set, during which they debuted a new song and played a lot of my favorite covers. We all conspired to meet up at the Black Velvet later on, and parted ways.
I went with some people on a guitar-fetching and kebab-buying run to the neighborhood south of Place de la Victoire on Cours de la Marne. We even stopped to buy some Kronenbourg. I taught them the English phrase "beer run". You know. Spreading the American college culture.
We hung around at Clémentine and Loïc's apartment for a while. There was Kro to be drunk. They played some of the songs they were considering doing at open mic, plus some unrelated Bob Dylan, like "Hurricane", which I've been listening to a lot the last few days. Happy coincidences. I'm kind of impressed someone would take the time to learn a song as epically long as "Hurricane" in their second language.
We walked to the Black Velvet, which I hadn't visited until last week for all that I'd heard a lot about it. It's down by the Garonne, near the reflecting pool and Place de la Bourse and la Porte de Cailhau. Many of the people I see at open mic nights elsewhere came, and it was a lot of fun. Nathalie played "5 Years Time" by Noah and the Whale and I sang. I did her harmonies for "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls, too, and I think both of those went okay, for us not having played them together before.
When the music ended and the bar was approaching closing time, we walked down to the river and sat on the stairs below the reflecting pool. Nathalie and Loïc played a lot of guitar. And glockenspiel. We all sang.
I was surprised by the number of people out and about at 3 a.m. in Bordeaux. Some people just biking or rollerblading. Or biking while hold on the hand of their rollerblading girlfriend, which strikes me as an awkward mode of transport. But like on any night when the weather is passable, there were French people hanging out, smoking, and drinking wine from the bottle.
Lots of people kept stopping by to watch or to sing with us. Some of them were very drunk. Some of them were homeless. Some of them were just strange, like the two girls who told us they were amateur beatboxers and sat down to jam with us.
Eventually it was 3:30 and I was cold, so I walked home.
Hopefully I'll post about today's festivities later, because tomorrow I'm going to Arcachon.
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