Paris Insights - The Blog

The Château at the Top of the Hill
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

The Domaine de Villarceaux, where the day-long Terres de Bretagne music festival took place on Sunday, September 4, is a beautiful 175 acre park located in Val-d’Oise. The domain is an hour’s drive from Paris. Two châteaux stand there — one with a view of a labyrinth of neatly-trimmed, low-cut shrubbery next to a man-made pond, and the other, high on a hill with a majestic view of the valley.

In Part 1 of this article, I described how I walked beyond the château at the top of the hill to the gate at the far end of the domain. Turning around at the gate, I had a superb view of the manor.

View of Château from the Gate at the Top of the Hill
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

The cobblestone roadway that leads back to the château is bordered by thick woods on either side. There are warning signs advising strollers not to venture into the woods, probably because the trees have not been attended to for the last forty years. I did, however, stop to photograph an intriguing statue that stands there in a tunnel of overgrowth.

Tunnel of Tangled Overgrowth
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Returning to the château, I entered a walkway leading to the basement where the restroom is located. The fleur-de-lys tiles of the floor of the vestibule give an unambiguous sign that aristocrats once occupied this place.

Fleur-de-lys Tile on the Floor of the Vestibule
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Vestibule of Public Restroom
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Later, I returned to the château and found it open to concert goers. I entered and took pictures of the sumptuous furnishings. Note the painting of the nude Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon in the dining room.

Dining Room
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Bedroom
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

In the entry hall stands a sculpture of an obviously ecstatic Leda embracing a swan.

Leda and the Swan
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Later in the day, people sat on the lawn of the château to watch the concert given there.

Watching Concert from the Château du Haut
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

To be continued…

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The Château at the Top of the Hill
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

On Sunday, September 4, the organization called Festival d’Ile-de-France opened its end-of-summer concert series with an outdoor music festival at Domaine de Villarceaux. The domain is located in Val-d’Oise, an administrative départment in the Ile-de-France region.

Hundreds of people (as well as some eighty performers) braved uncertain weather to hear fifteen groups play traditional Breton folk music, as well as jazz, and, in the case of the group N’Diale, Breton-Malian fusion.

For me, the day started with a 45-minute metro ride to Porte de Saint-Cloud to get on a navette (shuttle bus) for the one-hour ride to the festival grounds. At the bus stop, two lovely young women verified my ticket and invited me to get aboard. I got a front-row seat, giving me an unhindered view of the road as the bus wended its way to the concert grounds.

Shuttle Bus Service to Domaine-de-Villarceaux
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Young Women Checking Tickets
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I was prepared for rain, but the only serious precipitation came during the last act around 5:30 p.m. The deluge stopped the Alan Stivell quartet in mid-performance and sent spectators scurrying for cover. It was too bad, because their fusion rock music was a pleasure to listen to!

Being one of the first off the bus, I hoped that I could quickly get to the Ty Lichous food stand to try one of their Breton specialties, but arriving there I saw that about fifty people were already in line (many concert goers had arrived by car). I settled for a falafel sandwich from La Rose d’Orient stand, whose line was very short. Does the popularity of the Breton food stand over the Lebanese one give any indication of the ethnic makeup of the majority of the concert attendees? I believe it does!

People Gathering in front of the Food Stands
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

There would be another indication later, when dozens of people formed circles on a large outdoor dance floor and danced what I believe were traditional Breton dances to the folk music performed there.

I decided to explore the grounds first before watching the concerts. The area is a vast park and wood, and a château sits on top of a hill. I climbed all the way up, and walked beyond the château to a great gate that was locked tight and bristling with spikes.

The Gate at the End of the Road
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

A Gate You Do Not Mess With
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To be continued…

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Juldeh Camara (left) and Justin Adams (right)
Photography by York Tillyer
Real World Records Ltd

When East met West, there was an explosion of music that brought people to their feet. That is what happened yesterday in the Luxembourg Garden when British rocker Justin Adams and Gambian griot Juldeh Camara performed at the kiosk with bassist William Fuller and drummer David Smith.

Exhorting the audience to “get up and dance,” Adams belted out acid rock and rhythm and blues on his guitar, while Camara responded with his single-string spike fiddle called a ritti. There was improvised call and response throughout the concert, which was a spectacular production of pulse-pounding sounds and rhythms.

The concert is part of a summer program entitled “Paris Quartier d’Ete,” sponsored by the City of Paris.

Adams and Camara will give three more free concerts: this evening at Bercy Village at 7:00 p.m., tomorrow at Jardin d’Eole at 7:00 p.m., and Sunday at Parc de la Butte du Chapeau-Rouge at 6:00 p.m.

Be prepared to get up and dance!

Juldeh Camara
Photography by www.DiscoverParis.net

Justin Adams
Photography by www.DiscoverParis.net

Enthusiastic Audience Responding
Photography by www.DiscoverParis.net

Father and Son Dancing
Photography by www.DiscoverParis.net

Little Boy Clapping
Photography by www.DiscoverParis.net

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Bjørn Berge
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Bjørn Berge, Norwegian-born guitarist and singer, performed at the Parc de la Butte du Chapeau-Rouge last Sunday evening.

Playing hard-driving bluegrass, blues, and metal on his amplified 12-string guitar, his thunderous music rolled across the park in giant waves of sound.

His appearance on Sunday was part of a summer program entitled “Paris Quartier d’Ete,” sponsored by the city of Paris.

Bjørn Berge Performs in the Parc de la Butte du Chapeau-Rouge
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

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The Egyptian Project
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Last Monday evening saw the Egyptian Project perform in a free concert at the Jardin Tino-Rossi, a sculpture garden down by the river. While tourist-filled boats plied the water and discharged their passengers on the dock behind the stage of the Franco-Egyptian band, the musicians belted out pulse-pounding rhythms.

The idea for the creation of the band was sparked after French singer and music director Jérôme Ettinger had worked with a number of musicians of different styles and traditions for a number of years. The result is a fusion of traditional Egyptian songs and instruments into a modern style that incorporates trip-hop (downtempo electronic music), hip-hop, and jazz.

It was a powerful performance and the first of a series of free outdoor music concerts sponsored by the city of Paris this summer.

Salama Metwally, Rababa
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Ragab Sadek (center), Percussions
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Little Girl Dancing
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Another Girl Dancing
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Woman Dancing
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

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The organizers of the annual Festival d’Ile de France held a pre-launch concert last Wednesday at a theater and dance hall in Paris named Le Divan du Monde.

The purpose of the event was to communicate the festival’s ambitious musical program to an appreciative public. And indeed, for the five week period between September 3 and October 10, thirty-three concerts will be held in twenty-nine historic venues located in the Ile-de-France region. Top musicians from different parts of the globe will perform, including Tomatito (flamenco guitar) from Spain, Carl Craig (techno) from the United States, Kan’Nida (drums) from Guadeloupe, Goran Bregovic (trumpet) from Bosnia-Herzegovina…the list goes on and on!

N'Diale
From left to right:
Yannick Jory, saxophone - Jacky Molard, violin
Foune Diarra, vocals - Kassim Sidibé, kamele n'goni
Alhassane Sissoko, djembé - Hélène Labarrière, bass
Not pictured: Janick Martin, accordeon
Photo by Discover Paris!

For the pre-launch party, two different groups appeared on stage, and it is the second group, N’Diale, that I want to mention today. N’Diale was formed through the collaboration of a Breton group called the Jacky Morland Quartet, and a Malian group called the Foune Diarra Trio. The music that they play is a fusion of the music of two completely different cultures. And, whereas I have always thought of fusion cuisine as being a nondescript mishmash, the fusion music that N’Diale played on Wednesday night was some of the most marvelous that I have ever heard.

The star of the show was Foune Diarra, a lithe and graceful singer and dancer. A video of the two groups on tour together in Benin and Brittany, France can be viewed below. Although the video is in French, non-Francophones who watch it will get a good idea about how effectively these musicians combine their talents to create some fantastic sounds.

I blogged about three performers that appeared at last year’s festival (Willie Colón, Kahmed, and Baaba Maal), and I look forward to blogging about some of the performers of this year’s festival!

Information (in French) about the festival that was held in 2010 can be found here. I anticipate that the festival organizers will soon be updating the Web site for the 2011 season.

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On Sunday, I blogged about the carnival that was held at Square de la République in the city of Montreuil. From 10:00 a.m. until noon, children and adults were arranging their costumes and painting their faces in preparation for the big parade that would follow. From noon until 2:30 p.m. they enjoyed yassa (chicken cooked with onions) prepared by Moussa Doucoura and Fatou Ba and played carnival games.

At precisely 2:30 p.m., people began moving out of the park and into the street where, under police escort, they followed a circuitous route through the city, returning to the park. I recorded two videos: the first shows them moving out of the park, and the second shows them marching about midway through the course.

I hope that you enjoy watching these videos as much as I did in taking them!

A Lady Named Hawa Walking Alongside the Parade Route
(c) Discover Paris!

The Parade Route

Girl in Costume
(c) Discover Paris!

The marchers returned to the park, where the party and concerts continued into the evening!

I mentioned in the post on Sunday that the festival was organized by Sacamalices 93. This is a community association founded just a few months ago in the memory of Jean Acamas, a community organizer and activist who passed away in 2007.

The goals of the association are fourfold:

The association sees the carnival as one way of bringing residents, business owners, neighbors, and visitors together to achieve its objectives and simply to have a day of fun. They hope that their efforts in spreading conviviality and joy will endure, and they are looking forward to holding another festival in 2012.

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Carnival and parade were themes for a marvelous party held under sunny skies at a shady park called Square de la République in the city of Montreuil today. I first learned of the event when I was searching the Internet for the performance dates of a fanfare funk band called Tarace Boulba, and learned that it would be performing at the parade.

I arrived at the square at around 1:00 p.m. and entered into a beehive of activity. There were little kids running around in face paint and costume and playing old-fashioned arcade games whose names I didn’t know. There was a table set up where yassa (chicken cooked in onions) was served with white rice. And there was a stage where musicians were setting up for an evening performance.

All of this was organized by an association called Sacamalices 93. One of the adults present told me that the carnival had not been held for several years because of lack of funding. But they made up for it this year!

At 2:30 p.m., kids and their parents, most in colorful costume, lined up, ready to march into the street under police escort. The fanfare funk band took its place at the head of the line and the parade started off through the streets of Montreuil. A second brass band followed at the rear of the parade.

What fun!

Danielle - Secretary of Sacamalices 93
(c) Discover Paris!

Moussa Doucoura and Fatou Ba - The Cooks
(c) Discover Paris!

Parent and Child Playing Carnival Game
(c) Discover Paris!

Spiderman and Pal
(c) Discover Paris!

Kids Playing Carnival Game
(c) Discover Paris!

Girls in Colorful Costume
(c) Discover Paris!

Girl in Costume
(c) Discover Paris!

Simon Getting Ready
for the Evening Performance
(c) Discover Paris!

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