Nuffink much
Just downloaded Rinôçérôse's first album. I did it illegally, but I bought it years ago and then it was stolen, so I feel I am blameless. It's fantastic music. I think they disappeared up their arses a bit with their subsequent works, but this one's a real classic. I won't mention the golden age of French house music, but... Ooops.
Still getting used to living in France again. Living (languishing?) in the 'Irish enclave' (thanks, Dave) doesn't help, but I'm the first to admit that I'm willfully lazy. Went to a rather good club on Saturday night. It was a joint effort between two club promoters. The venue was a fairly tacky place off the Place de la Concorde - a strange mix of cheap carpets, rickety stairwells and 18th century plasterwork. The music was pretty varied - several rooms over several levels. My favourite DJ of the night was a muscular bearded chap in one of the smaller rooms playing very hard, banging techno. His mixing was excellent. There was another guy playing more chintzy stuff downstairs; Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, etc. I enjoyed that too. I was considerably less enamoured with the €10 beers, especially when they ran out of Heineken in every bar and could only offer some vile flavoured shite as an alternative. Mank wasn't the word. It still pisses me off how expensive drinks are in Parisian nightclubs. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the night.
After the club (about 6am I think) B and I went to Au Pied de Cochon for onion soup. I had a pint of lager (€8.95) but couldn't finish it. The soup was great, and covered in the thickest cheese crust I've ever come across. Yum. There was nearly a fight in the booth across from us, when some guy accused a group of lads of taking the piss out of him. The hitherto docile maître'd roared at the ringleader piss-taker to shut his face or he'd personally forcibly remove him from the premises. There was a momentary hush, and then everyone went back to devouring their huge seafood platters and guzzling red wine. (It must have been 7:30am at this stage, as the sun was coming up.)
Otherwise, work is grand. It's busy, reasonably challenging and the people in my office seem to like me. There's quite a lot of cold-calling to do at the moment, which isn't great, but it's good for my French. I've almost mastered the blasé phone manner so beloved of people who answer the phone over here. :D
And now I must ring home. A toute ...
Still getting used to living in France again. Living (languishing?) in the 'Irish enclave' (thanks, Dave) doesn't help, but I'm the first to admit that I'm willfully lazy. Went to a rather good club on Saturday night. It was a joint effort between two club promoters. The venue was a fairly tacky place off the Place de la Concorde - a strange mix of cheap carpets, rickety stairwells and 18th century plasterwork. The music was pretty varied - several rooms over several levels. My favourite DJ of the night was a muscular bearded chap in one of the smaller rooms playing very hard, banging techno. His mixing was excellent. There was another guy playing more chintzy stuff downstairs; Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, etc. I enjoyed that too. I was considerably less enamoured with the €10 beers, especially when they ran out of Heineken in every bar and could only offer some vile flavoured shite as an alternative. Mank wasn't the word. It still pisses me off how expensive drinks are in Parisian nightclubs. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the night.
After the club (about 6am I think) B and I went to Au Pied de Cochon for onion soup. I had a pint of lager (€8.95) but couldn't finish it. The soup was great, and covered in the thickest cheese crust I've ever come across. Yum. There was nearly a fight in the booth across from us, when some guy accused a group of lads of taking the piss out of him. The hitherto docile maître'd roared at the ringleader piss-taker to shut his face or he'd personally forcibly remove him from the premises. There was a momentary hush, and then everyone went back to devouring their huge seafood platters and guzzling red wine. (It must have been 7:30am at this stage, as the sun was coming up.)
Otherwise, work is grand. It's busy, reasonably challenging and the people in my office seem to like me. There's quite a lot of cold-calling to do at the moment, which isn't great, but it's good for my French. I've almost mastered the blasé phone manner so beloved of people who answer the phone over here. :D
And now I must ring home. A toute ...