Summer music around Paris

There are many hundreds of musical festivals throughout France all year, but especially during Summer - many of them outdoors. Paris has more than its fair share.


From June to September, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, there are concerts in the Parc Floral near the Chateau de Vincennes - some classical, some jazz, some world music. The stage area is delightful, and people also sit on the grass or in other areas near the performance area and have picnics during the concert.
This was a Palestinian group called "Orientale Music Ensembe" - superb! Very political themes with haunting and uplifting rhythms and textures ...

One of my old favourites, Anouar Brahem - composer and performer on the oud. This is the first time I've seen him live ...

The base clarinet was fantastic too.Some of the outside audience ...

Neighbours who are Swedish invited myself and another neighbour to go with them to the regular Wednesday night jazz session at the Swedish club. The Club is in the flat where Alfred Nobel used to live, and where he signed the document willing the early Nobel Prizes. It was a top evening.

The La Défense Jazz Festival - at The Big End Of Town - was a mixed success for me. Lots of music that was more rock than jazz. But many people enjoyed it. There were concerts every lunchtime for a week and some night ones.

Reflections in the towers during the concerts ...

Evening concert on the last night ...

Wayne Shorter was the Big Act for the last night ...

Fading sunset reflected in the towers during the evening concert ... Down market a bit with some lively youngsters in place des Vosges ... And then again - the Gay Pride concert at place de la Bastille ...The final concert in this year's series of free monthly jazz concerts in my local Mairie (4th); they'll start again in September. Franck Avatabile is a seriously emerging and talented young pianist ...

In the Jardin du Luxembourg, the bicentennary of Chopin's birth was being celebrated ...

Not ideal conditions for listening to Chopin, though:

Bastille Day and Fireworks at the Eiffel Tower

Friends advised me that it wouldn't be worth going to the Champs Elysées to try to watch the Bastille Day parade, because the crowds are so huge that it's hard to see anything; better to watch on TV. But in any case, the rain bucketed down so staying home until later in the afternoon when it cleared was a good idea.

The theme this year was fraternity with the African countries that were former French colonies. Leaders were guests and troops from those countries marched. There were rumblings in the media about French politicians sitting alongside some murderous dictators. I philosophised that maybe the rain was symbolic - to wash away the sins of the past - those colonial ones and the recent massacres by African leaders.

I captured the first two images on my TV screen. Call me a sucker for macho stuff, but I'm so impressed by the expert military parachutists who always manage to land right in front of the presidential grandstand.

The evening enticed us to the Champ de Mars to watch the fireworks display. Shoulder-to-shoulder crowds built up early...

Gradually getting darker ...

Then time for the pretties ...

Apologies in advance for the videos. My bright idea of conveying some atmosphere through the videos wasn't so bright when I turned the camera to portrait view, to ensure that I captured the full height of the Eiffel Tower! So - here are two videos, but you'll need to turn your head or your monitor to see the correct view ... sorry !

Bastille Eve at Issy-les-Moulineaux

This year I've learned from locals that most of the best fun activity happens the night before Bastille Day, rather than on the day itself. Certainly, the familial ambiance in the park at Issy-les-Moulineaux (on the south-western outskirts of Paris) bore witness to that. Picnics on the grass preceded the wonderful display of music and fireworks. Other outer areas have similar events.
Everyone was issued with a Chinese-style lantern to light their spot after the floodlights were turned off in preparation for the display.

Our picnic spot at sunset.

Our picnic spot after we received our lanterns. I chose my red one.

The festive atmosphere building up.

Ready for the display to start:

And there it goes ...

I find it difficult to take good photos of fireworks, but hopefully you can sense a bit of the atmosphere from these. The video at the end gives more of an idea.

Now for the video ... it's short but lively ...

Out of Paris - to Chaumont-sur-Loire

I decided to have a day out of Paris and visit Chaumont-sur-Loire, on the recommendation of my Australian friend, Glenn Thomas. It was a great suggestion, because this small village on the banks of the River Loire is a real treat.

There's an annual international garden design festival for themed design of small gardens, and this year's theme is "Body and Soul": lots of Zen-type influences. The small gardens are linked by delightful walkways and general garden areas.

About a two-hour train trip from Paris to Onzain, plus a half-hour walk, the gardens are alongside the castle and its surrounding woods. The original farm buildings have been turned into art display areas.

Setting out ...
I love the asymmetry in the paved walkway below - not stones, but metal pavers set into beaten earth ...

The garden below was my favourite: a lake with chairs that "stand" on the surface of the water, and a greenhouse containing hanging plants, plus lots of lovely water plants ...

Moving on ...

A delightful combination of trees, stone, wood, moss, grasses and water ...

Moving on again ...

It's not just the plants providing colour ...

My next favourite - panels of textured glass set among the grasses, bamboo, trees and water features ...

This section was interesting but I'm not sure about durability - the pattern is created by twigs wedged between two sheets of glass. Sculptures in the same section - many of them with glass features ... A wonderful place for a day out for some littlies ... Some practical potting ...

Very relaxed ... Creative potting on a large scale ...

Curving walkways ... A very unusual garden - and scoring points for me as a jazz-lover: this is a tribute to jazz singer Billie Holiday - called the Lady Day garden. There are sofas and a soundtrack of the Lady's voice. Heading for the vines ... Lavender in the scented garden:

Some giant pottings ...

An odd one ... Some asymmetrical walkways ... Bright steppping stones, and a mirror effect ...

Even the toilets are environmentally friendly and allow the breezes to flow through:

Heading into the forest: Passing a view of the Loire ... Painted trees in the forest:

I know this is art, but I found it very disconcerting. It disturbed me because it reminded me of a mass grave. Listening to the birds ...

... among flowers, vegies and herbs ...

A cooling lily pond ... A marriage of timber and plants ...

Moving now from the garden exhibition to the original farm, which has been renovated into art display spaces ...

The photographs below are "Winter". Leaving the farm area to go to the woods near the castle: Looking across the River Loire towards the Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle ...

Looking from the castle and surrounding grounds back towards the River Loire ...

The castle as we emerge from the Chaumont-sur-Loire Farm ...

The River Loire from the castle grounds ... In the castle grounds ... The following two shots are a sculpture of ladders in a tree - intended to make us look up and see the space in a new way ... And now another sculpture - a timber spiral within a cluster of trees ... I guess the people in the middle of it in the photo below couldn't read the sign that said "Fragile: Do not touch".Above - a children's end-of-term outing in the woods.

Below - heading into the woods on one of the paths ... Rest chairs along the edge of the River Loire ... Camping grounds beside the River Loire ... The edge of the River Loire ... This is my first attempt to load a video - in the middle of the castle woods, listening to birdsong. You may be able to hear the shouts of children playing, in the background.