All types of bands covered the streets of Paris this evening for the Fete de la Musique. Started in France in 1976, Fete de la Musique started as a way to celebrate the start of summer and the musical arts. While shopping today, I saw a band sitting on the washing machines of a laverie on Rue Étienne-Marcel. After dinner, I saw three men playing guitar (one had a pink one) by the main church in Alésia. A little further down was another band playing French music. Right next to them: a guy selling cups of beer from two kegs at a little stand.
Along with the plethora of street performers spread throughout Paris (more than usual) were other more legitimate concerts. Stages were erected with band line-ups in various parts of the city. The one I saw was in Denfert-Rochereau. What I found incredibly funny here was that the stage was set up right next to the entrance to the Catacombs and all of the people were sitting in the area surrounding it. And when I say "all of the people," I mean numbers equivalent to Central Park SummerStage crowds. Just think, all of those people were drinking and eating (yes, it's legal to consume alcoholic beverages in public here) approximately 130 steps above piles of skulls and bones.
Supposedly, the rowdiest party is in the Saint Michel area, but I didn't dare to venture that far. Instead, I leisurely walked back to my room with my friend as we watched the masses of people (the three boys wearing bright yellow and black wigs were our favorites) and enjoyed the faint sounds of music drifting through the air.
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