Remembering

Cloudy today, and forecast to stay that way until Monday, so I decided to leave Versailless for another time and go to Montmartre instead. I was a bit shocked by the number of really tacky tourist shops along the street leading up to the base of the Sacr Coeur basilica, and surprised to see the number of chancers doing the spot-the-ball game along the way. Even more surprising was the number of 50- and even 100-euro notes changing hands.

I wimped out and took the to the basilica (my poor little legs would never manage all this steps!). Even on a cloudy, dull day, the view really is wonderful, and I spent my time walking around, soaking up the atmosphere, stopping for a hot wine, and even getting sucked into having my caricature done. The queue to get in to the basilica awe too long for my liking, so I passed on seeing the inside.

Going down the steps was easy enough, even for me. Metro back to base, pit stop beside the apartment, bit of a nap, then back out for a trip down memory lane around Place de la République. Back in '99, '00 and '02 I went over to Paris for the Apple Expo and stayed in the Hotel République each time. I sent great times around there, and wanted to see how it lived up to the memories.

Of course, Place de la République was in the news a lot back in November following the dreadful attacks, and the base of the monument in the centre of the square now has the looks of a (quite ugly) permanent shrine to the victims. Ugly it may be, but it's also deeply moving.

A bite to eat close to my old hotel and it was time to continue my journey to the Philharmonie de Paris for the first of the two concerts I came here for. This brand new hall opened a year ago, yet I was very disappointed to find that it's still being worked on, with lots of place still unfinished. Even parts of the interior are badly finished and have the look of a rushed job to get it open on the announced date.

But that's not what matters. What matters as the magnificent music making by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, one of my favourites with the baton. We'll hear all five Mendelssohn symphonies over the two concerts, and tonight we had no. 3 (the 'Scottish') and no. 2 ('Lobgesang'), with soloists, choir and organ added. It was all magnificent! Whatever about the hall not finished or not finished properly, the acoustics are wonderful, and the performances were superb.

The concert began at 8:30, and didn't finish until after 11:00, and I really wasn't in the mood to go out drinking as I'd planned to do. So I got the Metro home and settled down for a badly needed good night's sleep. Unfortunately gang after gang of rowdy Parisiens had other plans and kept on passing by shouting drunkenly, all of which went on until 5:00 am. Maybe I'll sleep tomorrow night.