Chanson et le diner avec mes amis Christiane et Jock June 16, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Cafes & Restaurants,Travel , trackbackOne of the best things about living in London, and prefering not to fly for holidays, is that holidays start in Paris, thanks to the wonder of Eurostar, and a few friends here.
I’m trying to plan a celebratory weekend with friends later in the year, and someone suggested Le Limonaire, in the 2nd arrondissement, a short trip from where I was staying in the 3rd. We went to try it out.
Le Limonaire is everything you expect a Parisian cafe / bistro to be with one major exception. Small, slightly run down, full of locals, good food and fabulous artists. Dinner was a tuna terrine on salad, followed by a beef stew on rice and a creme brulee (at least one cliche allowed with every meal). We started with a bottle of a fairly non-descript red the name of which escapes me, and then moved on to a carafe of the vin du moins, a fresh, clear beaujolais which was very drinkable on a muggy summer evening. We were joined by an older lady who lives locally and comes here often, but spoke no English – she’d hated it at school.
After the meal the compere told us to turn off mobile phones and not to smoke, much to my amazement, given normal Parisian habits. Apparently Paris too will have a smoking ban from Jan 2008, and join the league of civilised places discouraging that foul and obnoxious habit.
And then the entertainment started.
When two blokes took the stage with squeegee boxes, my heart sank. But this was not the badly played piano-accordion of a thousand buskers who one gives money to in the hope that they would go away. Instead, what followed was excellent, and absolutely at the limit of my French to understand. It was obviously satirical, with songs about political figures, and although I couldn’t really get the jokes, the audience were having a great time.
Next up were two women, an Argentinian percussionist, Vanesa Garcia, and a chanteuse with a beautiful strong voice, where I just sat and enjoyed the music, without worrying too much about understanding the words.
The third act was a male singer, who was apparently singing something quite obscene, but entertaining, and then finally a guitarist, who switched to a ukelele for a while, very funny with lots of silly noises.
With my limited French, I felt I missed out on a fair bit, but it was a great evening anyway – the music, the ambience, the food, trying to speak to people, spending time with my friends. It must be fabulous to have something like this in your neighbourhood.
Technorati Tags: le limonaire, paris, holiday June 2007
Comments»
I’m planning to visit Paris later this year, and hadn’t thought about the fact that Parisians might smoke (Gauloises, I presume). We’ve got totally accustomed to clean air in bars and restaurants here in New Zealand. It’s reassuring to know that there will be some places in Paris that are smoke-free, at least after dinner. Prendrez plaisir a vos vacances!