Vive la France: Josh Wink in Paris

Monday Feb.16th

I feel rested as I rise two minutes before my phone alarm goes off. For some reason my biological clock is pretty tuned into any clock I’m around. It’s weird, but I tend to wake minutes before my alarm activates.

I like to sleep with earplugs in as it’s one of the only times where your ears can ‘rest’. Even when you sleep your ear muscles are triggered and work, yet you don’t always awake. So, I try to give my ears full time off to recoup, however, I get nervous that I won’t hear my internal, phone or hotel alarm and will sleep past my travel responsibilities. Hasn’t happened in all these years, but it’s a big fear of mine that is certainly shared by most who travel.

I shower in my Moroccan-tiled bathroom, and as I am warmed by the heat of the water cascading over my nightclub scented body, I get excited for my breakfast, which is so close!  Rice milk, muesli, organic tea, soya yogurt, and assorted fruits are set out at the communal table where I begin to devour everything in sight!

With 30 minutes before I head to the train station, I pack my things and organize for the next excursion to commence.

As mentioned in Sunday’s blog, I love the train! Today the jaunt is a quick one—one hour and 25 minutes with no stops. After a quick connection from a train from Ghent to Brussels Midi, I arrive over an hour prior to my departure time. So, instead of waiting at the station, I was able to pay 10€ and change to an earlier departure.

The train wasn’t crowded on a Monday rush hour, and I was able to sit alone, put on my earphones and iTouch, zone out to Stars of the Lid ‘Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid’ LP, and type away as the train blurred the outside reality at 140KPH.

Flat countryside greets us after a slow start out of Brussels station, where gray skies open at intervals, welcoming our journey in golden benevolence. Ahhhh. I take a deep breath and am thankful. I’m at ease and find myself being rocked to sleep by the gentle movements of the train’s passage.

Awakening, I noticed my views have changed. Rural landscapes have been swapped for concrete and modern elements, where a city with history and age beckons to tell its stories as one of the most visited cities in the world - Paris. I really enjoy spending time in this city where art, fashion, diversified cultures, cafés and magnificent architecture is married and intertwined with old and new traditions, romance and all. It is “a French way of life”.

When looking up at the monuments, French classic, Baroque and Beaux-Arts buildings, you have to keep in mind that you’ll probably bump into another person walking at the fast paced walk of Paris, a Vélib bicycle or most likely step in several piles of dog poo, which has become a cliché concern for this beautiful metropolis. However, for me, I have made this avoidance of dog excrement into a sport of sorts, a Parisian Slalom if you will, which makes the task of keeping the shoes un-soiled more fun.

Depending on the time and location in Paris, you don’t want to be traveling by automobile. The Metro, Vélib (bicycle system), or by foot is the best way to get around, as traffic can be horrendous. This was brought to my attention once again when I was picked up from Paris Gare Du Nord train station. Besides sitting in the car waiting in line, I notice that the pedestrians seem to be flying by us, and bikes are moving at subsonic speed as we fight to hold our position, and cars and buses try to do the impossible of overtaking in a bumper-to-bumper gridlock. Even as a passenger it’s a stressful circumstance, however, I laugh when I notice that there is even a 20+ bottleneck of scooters and motorcycles trying to jockey and get the best position in the “I’m getting there faster” race.

With patience and a sense of the tortoise finishing the race, we arrive at D’Julz’s abode which he has kindly opened for me to stay at prior to the Rex gig on Thursday. It was funny— I was greeted at the door, put down my things and immediately took a seat on the living room sofas and got into tech talk. Our typical babble on music, technology and now for me, helpful tips with operating Traktor Pro.

Effortlessly, time passes and we get hungry.  I mention calling Paul Ritch and Alain (DJ Yellow) to invite them to assemble with us for a late lunch, which manifests in a matter of minutes.

Café life with DJYellow, Paul Ritch and D’Julz

A typical French café/ bistro is suitable, and everyone orders steak-frites, while I oblige to the only dietary possibility on the menu - a salad. Ha! Yet, I’m not bothered as I am getting full on our conversations of once again life issues that are very passionate for us all: Music, politics, economy, travel, food, technology and art. I immensely enjoy this feeling of café culture with friends in Paris- I can’t seem to get enough.

We say our salutations and part ways with Paul, and now head to a Fnac store for camera shopping. One big thing I have realized as an American in Europe over the years is that the convenience of basic things I take for granted in the USA is brought to my attention over and over.

Going to by a camera, a pair of pants or something in a store on Sunday is impossible as all stores are closed. Wanting to go to the supermarket after 8 or 9PM is extremely challenging as well as limiting and frustrating when you get used to the convenience of shops/stores/boutiques being open 7 days a week with late hours. In essence, it’s a nice to have this time free of shopping and more for other activities. This was brought to my attention yesterday when I wanted to buy the camera at the huge media world shop that was near, and then was let down as it was Sunday.

Anyway, we do a bit of searching for the right camera, and in the end decided to wait, as we all felt overwhelmed by the stimulus bombarding us from all senses. We escape and plan to all meet for dinner in a couple hours.

More simple pleasures spring to mind when I think of doing laundry, which I now can easily do at D’Julz’s apartment. I’m usually subjected to either just having enough time for a required hotel’s laundry service or washing underwear and socks by hand and having optimistic visions that they will be dry before the next day’s departure. Not to mention the disquieting thoughts of having to pay 6€ to wash a pair of socks or 10€ for a tee-shirt. Man, that’s crazy! So, I am very happy and fortunate to have the washing machine to use at any time for the day.

DJ Yellow’s home and studio)

We do some things at the apartment and as time plays its tricks on us, it’s already dinner hour. So, we all planned to meet (D’Julz, Dina, Alain’s girlfriend, and Dina’s friend Tania) via the Metro at a Vietnamese restaurant, a favorite place of Alain’s to feast, in 45 minutes.  After dinner’s completion we decide to head back to Alain’s pad for a hang and a drink. The Metro was gracious to us tonight and whisked us with ease to the Réaumur station. A five-minute digestion walk and viola, we’re there.

Alain’s apartment is a cute lil’ joint where his whole living room doubles as his production studio for his wonderful music. We jam out to new music and try to figure out all the features on everyone’s camera (due to me), as a bottle of wine flows among us. Time escapes and it’s 2:30 AM on a Monday, and D’Julz and I are ready to retreat. We say our goodbyes and plan our next meetings as we exit into the Parisian crisp winter night.

The Anne Frank suite in D’Julz attic

A seven-minute walk to D’Julz’s apartment and I can’t wait for bed, even though I foolishly checked my email, which led to two hours of doing work and catching up on things. At 4:45AM I make my way up to the (Anne Frank suite, I call it) redone attic, which has been converted into a guest loft and record storage cavity, with a 360 degree breathtaking view of the city when you pop your head out the window.

I look forward to a couple of days of ‘sans voyage’, café meetings, walks and talks with friends.

Viva La France!