Bonjour Paris! Day 1 [Part 2]

Paris Day 1

When we landed in Paris we were greeted by a representative from the festival who took us to our hotel. It was a short ride from the airport to the Novotel de Bercy on Rue de Bercy.  The hotel was great and right next to the sports arena where they happened to be holding a world judo competition at the same time we were there. So we were sharing space with athletes from all over the world. Interesting combo to say the least.

The rooms weren’t quite ready when we arrived because we were a bit early. So we just chilled in the lobby until things opened up. When I finally got into my room I probably should have just went to sleep, but it's Paris! I can sleep when I’m dead. Lol.

View from my room

Paris Arena [can't remember the real name/from my room]

It may not look like it, but it was the best bed ever!

The situation room. It really was it's own room! LOL!

Some of the ladies in the band were going to the Hammam at the Paris Mosque where there is a spa and baths. There you can steam, get scrubs, massages, etc. I really wanted to go, but I had €100 to work with for the next few days so I couldn’t drop €48 of that on the spa. I later found out I probably could have gone because just to go to the baths and steam it was only €15, but that’s okay. I WILL get back to Paris.

Near Rue de Bercy

So instead of the spa I just walked down Rue de Bercy a bit to see what was what. Mazz and I later went out to get some food. Sadly my first meal in Paris was not exciting at all, but it filled the hole. I then took a short nap. I was beat down, but I was trying to stay up so I could get my sleep pattern in order. The jet-lag was beating me down. Of course I could have stayed at the hotel and got some real rest, but it's Paris and we had passes to see some of the other bands in the festival! So I peeled myself up and went with some of the Sugar crew to check out Graham Haynes presenting Bitches Brew Revisited and Ebo Taylor and Afrobeat Academy.

Me at the Festival

We hopped on the Metro (my first time on it) to get over to the Bastille, where we caught a bus provided by the festival, over to the venue. The spot was a bit outside of the city, but it was nice to ride for a while. When we got to the spot, I got another bad sandwich (ugh), found a spot to sit with Mazz and Chris and we settled in for the show.

It was great to hear Graham Haynes and crew do Bitches Brew, but when jet-lag is riding you Bitches Brew sounds like sweet lullaby. LOL! It just put me in a trance and I was in and out of consciousness for the whole set. I saw them do the show at Prospect Park over the summer and it was amazing. So I know what I missed, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I just pray I wasn’t snoring.

Ebo Taylor and crew were way more upbeat. So I stood up and bopped to the music till it was time to head out. The bus took us back to the Bastille and we were hungry. Folks were talking burgers, but that wasn’t doing it for me. Karma and I found this spot called Léon de Bruxelles that was open and they was serving mussels. That was it for me! So we ate, talked and headed back to the hotel. The Metro had stopped running so we decided to walk home instead of getting a cab. I was dog tired, but I was in Paris! LOL. So we began our journey. It was going well, but then we got a little turned around.  Luckily we hadn’t wandered too far out of the way so we found out way back quite easily. By the time we made it home I fell right out. I have to say that that hotel probably has the best mattress I have ever slept on. I slept so hard I didn’t even dream. Big day ahead.