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For more than 20 years now,
Paris has held an
annual Fête de la musique on the night of
the summer
solstice, and it's a party that lasts until dawn. It doesn't matter
what day of the week the solstice falls on, come June 21, we have
music in the streets, and we have it all night long. Well, it's music
alright, but don't expect to hear the aria from Madame
Butterfly (although I did actually hear some Bizet tonight
[6/22/05). Basically the music part is an all but completely
concealed excuse for a hell of a party. See, what happens is that
pretty much 
everyone
in Paris, the surrounding suburbs, and almost every country in Europe
descends into the streets of Paris to dance, drink, party, yell, eat,
throw stuff, and set fire to things. The only thing missing is
firecrackers, and they'll wait until July 14 for that
(see
below). The
party is absolutely great,
if not sometimes a tad excessive. If you do not like crowds, not only
will you not enjoy yourself here, you will be anything from mildly
annoyed to bone-chillingly terrified. I guarantee there are more
people on the streets at this event than you have ever seen anywhere.
Many of the musical events are sponsored by the city; most are not.
Many of the musicians are talented; most are not (and there's no
correlation between these things). There are stages set up at all the
places you'd expect (Bastille, the marais, Latin Quarter, Montmartre,
basically any place two or more streets come together, and I'm really
not exaggerating very much at all), and often there will be
performances within less than 100 feet of one another, since people
will just plop down and start singing or playing a saxophone or
whatnot. It doesn't matter if the music is great or downright
pathetic; people will gather in numbers ranging from the several
dozens to the many thousands (really). Folks will set up kegs of
beer, barbecues, cardtables full of baked goods and sell to
passers-by. Passers-by will buy these things (mostly the beer). Some
folks have long-standing neighborhood gatherings, mostly in the older
neighborhoods, that are especially charming, particularly since
people come from all over
for a sort of homecoming. The general atmosphere ranges from pleasant
and homey (see Café la Comète, above right) to
scary
and gulag-like (as in the picture from the marais above); all the
pictures on this page of the Fête de la musique
were
taken within 2 hours of one another, just so you have some idea of
how different the various neighborhoods can be. On one corner you'll
have a metal band shrieking out lyrics calling for the death of all
puppies; walk down the street and a golden-haired teenager will be
singing plaintively about social injustice. Attending both events
will be a near stunning, practically impossible mix of blue-haired
old ladies and hard-core skinheads. You takes your pick.
It's the same day everywhere
(last Saturday in
June), and it's huge in Paris. In 2005, according to official
reports, there were 400,000 people marching and a quarter of a
million
spectators. Various commercial and civic enterprises are represented,
including the Hôtel de Ville (Paris has an openly gay mayor),
the RATP (metro), Air France, and the police. Expect the usual club
music, dancing, and leaflets.
Celebrates the anniversary of
the French
Revolution (1789). Sort of like our 4th of July, but less
nationalistic in some senses, more in others, and far more protracted
in its celebratory effects. That is, you'll never see a French peson
waving a flag--that is reserved for the big military stuff, of which
there is sufficient amount to satisfy even the most hawkish fool--but
the celebration lasts approximately 24 hours. The big things, as far
as I'm concerned (and as far as you're concerned this is Absolute
Truth) are the parties of the night of the 13th, and the fireworks on
the 14th. There is also, as I mentioned, the big military parade. It
takes place on the afternoon of the 14th, I think someplace around
République, and it's pretty scary. The dancing and parties
of
the 13th, however, are charming and extremely fun, if you do it
right. You should get a lot of sleep before going out, because you're
most likely going to be out until dawn. There will literally be
dancing in the streets (and beaucoup drinking, too), with live bands
galore. One important thing to note: people will be throwing
firecrackers--unfortunately, quite a lot--out of passing cars and
whatnot. If you're afraid of firecrackers going off near you, you
might find this evening somewhat trying. The best places to go on the
13th are: (1) the Hôtel de ville. Go here first, because
although it's a big celebration, it's somewhat impersonal and doesn't
have much character. (2) the Bal des pompiers (Firemen's Ball) on the
rue de Sévigné, just across from the metro
Saint-Paul.
This is truly not to be missed. There are similar fireman's balls all
across the city, but this is far and away the best one. Go here
around 11:00 or midnight. You'll go through some big doors into a
courtyard, and the firemen will have a big box and ask you for a
donation. Throw in a few euros (they don't care how much, but you
should give them something), and proceed through the courtyard into
the much larger court to the back and to the right. There'll be a
reasonably good band, usually playing traditional as well as
contemporary music, a huge bar with cheap beer and wine, and dancing,
dancing, dancing. This will go on to all hours, and the crowd here is
extremely lively and friendly (but you will note that French people
aren't
the best dancers
in the world). If it's
n
ot
too crowded, you will have an absolutely marvelous time. Then, (3) at
about 2:00 - 3:00 A.M., if you're still into it, there's an even
bigger (and somewhat weirder) dance along the edges of the Seine run
by the radio station Féquence Gai. It's mostly gays and
lesbians, but no one cares if you're straight, as long as you're not
some kind of homophobe; go and you'll have have an amazingly great
time. It tends to be on the left bank just across from Notre Dame, so
it's only about a ten-minute walk from the Firemen's Ball. This will
go on until dawn, and there'll be weird contests--stripping, singing,
etc.--as well as dancing to more contemporary music. Things will sort
of quiet down a bit along about 5:00 A.M., and then you can sit down
on the banks of the river and watch the sun come up. The morning
light throws the river and this part of the city into a remarkable
cast, and you have not seen Paris until you see it like this. Have
breakfast afterward. The fireworks on the 14th are usually shot of
from the Seine, and most folks congregate on one of the bridges
toward the Eiffel Tower. Dancing continues on the night of the 14th,
in slightly (but not much) subdued fashion. The best I've found is at
the Place Contrescarpe, at the top of the rue Mouffetard. Go here and
I promise you'll love it.
Celebrated during the second weekend in October, this is when they harvest the grapes from the vines in Montmartre. Really. About a thousand years ago there were considerably more vinyards here; now there's just a little plot of land right by the Lapin Agile, at the corner of the Rue des Saules and the Rue Saint-Vincent. Apparently they're able to produce a few hundred bottles of wine per year from these vinyards, and it also seems that the wine pretty much sucks, but people are into this largely for the symbolic value: there are working vinyards right in Paris. There's a parade, refreshments, and all sorts of other activities going on here for the festival.
Remember, you can download a printable version of Tom's Guide from the home page.
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