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Author Topic: A Trip Through Paris, Request for Suggestions  (Read 1806 times)

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MandoC

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A Trip Through Paris, Request for Suggestions
« on: January 23, 2018, 07:10:25 PM »

My wife and I will be staying in Paris 2-7 March 2018  on our way to a tour of Morocco.  I would like to spend a day trolling through musical instrument stores in Paris with a special interest in button accordions (I play BC which I know is not a popular system in France), hurdy gurdies and mandolins. I have developed a recent interest in hurdy gurdies and would love to try to play one. I know there are folks on Melnet who are knowledgeable about Paris and the music scene there. I would also love to hear Duo Absynthe, Zef, or any group that has Aurelien Claranbaux in it.  I would also like to hear Remco Seitsema if he happens to be in the neighborhood. I am looking for suggestions. My wife and I have been to Paris before and they don't let us out of the icebox very often. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.  Charlie and Nancy
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Charlie Hunt
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triskel

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Re: A Trip Through Paris, Request for Suggestions
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2018, 08:03:42 PM »

You could do worse than take the train out to Montreuil, on the eastern fringes of Paris, and visit La boite d'accordéon, the shop of my friend Laurent Jarry.

There's even a documentary you can watch, to get the flavour of the place: Documentaire Atelier La boite d'accordéon, Laurent JARRY facteur-restaurateur d'accordéon

But I'm afraid you're too late to catch the wonderful antique musical instrument shop of André Bissonet (where I've bought instruments in years gone by), on the rue du Pas de la Mule, near the Place des Vosges in the Marais, because he retired in 2011. I think you'll like this photo of a hurdy gurdy in the window of it though: http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/d2aee933b4244382a750b69da7780616/paris-france-people-celebrating-in-music-store-in-the-marais-district-c3nrmj.jpg

There's a video, or four, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcFrUlskQ9Y, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2yO4zeOa6g, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xSF_U7uIik, https://vimeo.com/62050437

Mind you, the Place des Vosges is still worth a visit in its own right, because of the architecture, the cafes, and it's famous for its buskers...

triskel

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Re: A Trip Through Paris, Request for Suggestions
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2018, 06:37:00 AM »

Mind you, the Place des Vosges is still worth a visit in its own right, ... it's famous for its buskers...

Like this trio playing "accordéon swing" / "jazz manouche" / "gypsy jazz" music - Paris, city of music, Place des Vosges - or en quartette - ambiance Parisienne with Borsalino at Place des Vosges (HD)

And if you get a chance to hear the wonderful Daniel Colin play accordion - grab it! I spent a memorable weekend that featured him, and a couple of backing musicians from the late Patrick Saussois' band Alma Sinti, in the Harz Mountains of eastern Germany  in 1999. He's hugely respected by other accordion players. Just take a listen to this - Daniel Colin - La guigne - but the video that's with it seems rather incongruous, though I guess it's a reflection of the history this music has in Japan after the 1930 film "Sous les toits de Paris" became a huge hit there.

Then there are my friends Jean-Yves Dubanton (guitar) and Jean-Claude Laudat (accordéon) who've played together for many years. They used to play in Alma Sinti, and in a Paris restaurant called Chez Elle at Les Halles (but that's long-gone now), and you might just catch them playing somwhere.

Here's a video of them performing, as the "Almasini Trio" (I think that should read Alma Sinti Trio - all three of them played in that group anyway), at the Festival DJANGO REINHARDT SAMOIS 2017

Well, that'd be some of "my" Paris anyway...  (:)

(Then there's the more guitar side, and the history of bal de musette too.)

MandoC

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Re: A Trip Through Paris, Request for Suggestions
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2018, 03:04:06 AM »

Triskel:  Thanks for all the information. I certainly will try to visit La Boite d'accordian. It sounds like the exact kind of place I am looking for. Also the Place des Vosages sounds like another interesting neighborhood to visit.  My trip is a ways off (in March) but time seems to be flying by this time of year.
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Charlie Hunt
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triskel

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Re: A Trip Through Paris, Request for Suggestions
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2018, 05:11:35 AM »

If you find yourselves at Bastille, make a little pilgrimage to the rue de Lappe, off the rue de la Roquette. It was a sleepy little street when I first went there, only enlivened by the old Balajo dancehall where the legendary Jo Privat used to play the accordion, but (unbeknownst to me) Jo had died the previous year and the place had seen much better days...

It's the street where country people from the Auvergne came and settled in Paris, holding their traditional bals de musette ("dances to the bagpipe") in the backyards of their premises, to the music of their cabrette. And then Italian accordion players started to join in (one of them marrying the daughter of the most famous cabrette player), and a whole new genre was born.

There were still old Auvergnat shops there on my first visit (and not much else), but I was astonished last time I was there (18 months ago) to find the street bustling once more, with bars and cafes, and nightlife.

Steve Coombes

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Re: A Trip Through Paris, Request for Suggestions
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2018, 09:07:26 AM »


I have nothing to offer in regards of instrument shops. Although I do like the look of the one Triskel is recommending. My offering is on the street entertainment side. One Sunday morning at the end of a walk down the Rue Mouffetard I came across a group singing and dancing, great fun and totally unexpected, they were doing a good job of getting people involved too. Seems like they are there most Sunday mornings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mn1EiKt88c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rgixXlIsIo
The Rue Mouffetard is an interesting street to stroll down even without the entertainment.
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triskel

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Re: A Trip Through Paris, Request for Suggestions
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2018, 10:42:28 AM »

Yes, I like Mouffetard, and its market, and the place de la Contrescarpe. In fact I used to have the occasional use of an apartment there (with the building entrance on Cardinal Lemoine, but looking out over Mouffetard), until my friends sold it to buy a shotgun shack in Louisiana. But its probably mostly of interest to the Ernest Hemingway fans, and indeed Hemingway, and his wife Hadley, had had an apartment in the same building, and been friends with the owner of the dancehall that was then on the ground floor.

Chris Ryall

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Re: A Trip Through Paris, Request for Suggestions
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2018, 03:37:21 PM »

If you like "folk" then I strongly recommend Mission Brettonne in Montparnasse on Friday evenings, 8ish to 11.30,  but often a continuing session in a local bar afterwards. They do dance, accordion, song, bagpies of course and … even the odd language class!

The litle courses run in parallel to each other, and they usually start dancing about 10pm. Has bar, and AFAIR sandwiches. Handy for the station/metro
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