Kevin

Paris – Day 6 – September 14th – From Emmanuel’s Père Lachaise to the River Seine!

Thursday the 14th of September was going to be a FULL day! It was going to begin with a long walk to Père Lachaise cemetery and it would end with a long walk back to the hotel from the Bateaux Parisiens dinner cruise. And those were only the bookends to our jammed packed day!

This was our second day, and our third tour with Emmanuel’s Hidden Gems! We were excited to see the hidden gems he would regale us with in Père Lachaise. We visited this renown cemetery on our own back in 2021 and were able to find all the more famous tombs with the assistance of Google Maps. No, really, we were. Just search “Jim Morrison’s grave” while standing in Père Lachaise and the lovely Google lady will take you right to it! But we wanted to see what else the cemetery had to offer. What did Emmanuel curate for us that we wouldn’t otherwise see?

Emmanuel did not disappoint. We loved his choice of graves and the amusing and interesting anecdotes that came with them!

Again, I will try to convince the reader how wonderful Emmanuel’s tour was without giving away any of his carefully curated secrets. The point of his tours is that he takes you to Paris’s hidden gems, not all the places that ALL the tourists go to. This was true of his Père Lachaise tour as well.

I will just say one more thing… and it will be veiled. The price of the ticket was worth it just for the anecdote that went along with this enchanting tomb that Emmanuel took us to. And you wouldn’t guess in a million years the story of this grave…

The story of two men frozen in time together…take Emmanuel’s Hidden Gems tour of Père Lachaise to get the scoop. It’s amazing!

The pre-Autumn light made it a perfect time to view the cemetery. We saw such wondrous things!

Click this link for: EMMANUEL’S HIDDEN GEMS FACEBOOK GROUP

The best way to contact Emmanuel is through his Facebook PAGE. Once there, just send him a message. This is how we booked all 4 of our tours with him. We did it months in advance. You pay in cash on the day of the tour.

Click this link for: EMMANUEL’S HIDDEN GEMS FACEBOOK PAGE

The cemetery was really just such a lovely place to wander, and Emmanuel made our second visit here so much more special. We connected more with the stories of some of the people residing in this amazing place.

The neighbourhood of the dead. So peaceful.

After the cemetery it was time to say goodbye to Emmanuel for another day. One more tour to go!

We walked to Place des Vosges to see the home (and now museum) of Victor Hugo. But along the way, we scouted out a place to stop in for a quick bite.

We found Apsara – Bar Tabac & Restaurant Asiatique. This was little more than a corner store, with tables to the side corner where we sat and had the most delicious Pad Thai! Always give the little places a go in Paris…they’ll surprise you! This place had amazing food!

Pad Thai at Apsara – Bar Tabac & Restaurant Asiatique.

Victor Hugo’s house in one of the corners of Place des Vosges was lovely. You need give yourself only twenty to thirty minutes for this one. Well worth the trip, though! And Place des Vosges is extraordinarily picturesque! Take some time to look around while you’re there!

This quirky little room reminded me so much of our hotel lobby, I thought they must have gotten the inspiration from Victor himself!

This man is credited with the revival of interest in Notre-Dame Cathedral, and possibly with saving it from certain destruction. His Hunchback birthed a whole new interest in restoring the cathedral to its formal glory!

Next on the agenda was the Panthéon. Yes, we saw this building in 2021. We went back for TWO things. Number one, we missed the timed tour of the rooftop during our first trip. Number two, we visited just prior to the induction of the great Josephine Baker. We had to go back to pay tribute to this amazing trailblazing woman!

The rooftop views were incredible. So glad we timed it right this trip!

The view of the dome of the Pantheon just prior to getting to the top!

The tower you can view from all the high places in Paris, except from the view within the tower itself. 😉

Possibly my favourite church in Paris. Saint-Étienne-du-Mont. This is the church that Gil lingered at prior to getting picked up and whisked into the Lost Generation’s 1920s world in *MIDNIGHT IN PARIS*!

Here it is! This is, I should add, a CENOTAPH. Josephine Baker is not actually buried here. This is such an honour and such a well-deserved one!

Josephine Baker – June 3rd, 1906 – April 12th, 1975. Born St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Died Paris, France.

Of course, we stopped to see Foucault’s pendulum! Look it up. It’s a great story!

Not just a pretty picture…the more you know!

Of course, we had to actually visit the Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont (Église Saint-Étienne-du-Mont). We were right there, and I did say it was possibly my favourite Paris church.

Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont (Église Saint-Étienne-du-Mont), or the MIDNIGHT IN PARIS rendezvous sight!

Next up was the Conciergerie. This has always struck me as a beautiful building on the outside. I wanted to see the inside. This was where Marie Antoinette spent her last days before very carelessly losing her head (sorry, decapitation humour is not funny).

You can put this on your agenda if you’re in the area and don’t have a lot of time. I think it took us all of twenty minutes. Gorgeous, but sparse.

Next up was Crypte Archéologique de l’İle de la Cité. This too was a quick tour. Another monument we had not yet visited. This is a museum displaying ancient, Medieval & more recent remains found under Notre Dame. Quite fascinating and worth this visit! It’s directly in front of Notre-Dame Cathedral and often ignored. Visit!

Boy, did we take a lot in on this day! It’s exhausting just looking back on it and realizing how much we did!

Naturally, we went to Shakespeare & Company again. We were in the area and the day before Michael surprised me with a gift certificate for the store that my daughter and her family arranged for me for my birthday!

Part of my haul from Shakespeare & Company!

The store even had a little message for me from my family back home! Soooo sweet!

We then took a long casual walk from the 4th arrondissement to the 7th! We had a date for a dinner cruise with Bateaux Parisiens!

First a fueling! We walked into another place we found along the way…this time, just for a drink.

Rosie’s Smokehouse! We liked it here…this was our first of three visits. Just stumbled upon it while walking by…

Some of the things we viewed along the way…

The last event of our DAY! A dinner cruise.

We arranged for a window seat on our Bateaux Parisiens dinner cruise. Best choice ever! Here’s the avant le vin shot…

The night blurred on, the wine flowed, the food amazed, the views stunned and it was all very very…

Après le vin…

The cruise is planned so that you arrive back at the base of the tower around the time of THE SPARKLE!

All that glitters is gold, all that sparkles is iconic…

That was our day! It was a LOT. But I don’t think I would have had it any other way!

Looking back, it was a day of many footsteps!

Takeaway? Must dos are EMMANUEL’S HIDDEN GEMS, PANTHEON, and BATEAUX PARISIENS dinner cruise! Put them on your Paris itinerary. You’ll thank me. I wouldn’t NOT recommend anything from this day, but these are the standouts!

Next up is Day 7…

LINK TO PREVIOUS DAY.

LINK TO NEXT DAY.

When Idols Earn Their Wings! Carole Pope, Kevan Staples, and Rough Trade…

Back in 1980, when I first fell in love with Rough Trade, I was a very different person. Fourteen years old! I was young, confused, traumatized, flailing, and deeply in love with music. It was the one ballast strong enough to hold me. Music was (and is) my church.

Iconic Canadian singer Carole Pope at Phoenix Concert Theatre. Friday September 29th, 2023…the Walk of Fame Party concert.

When Avoid Freud released, I (figuratively) felt the ground beneath me tremble in the most delightful way. Placing the needle down on Side One of that shiny new vinyl was definitely one of those seminal moments when one feels something shift within them. Avoid Freud was MY album and Rough Trade was MY band. There are only a handful of albums I feel as close to as I feel to Avoid Freud…albums that have become a part of the weave of my story. My musical highway.

Never Mind the Bullocks by the Sex Pistols, The Hurting by Tears for Fears, The Head on the Door by The Cure, Once Upon A Time/The Singles by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kissing to be Clever by Culture Club, Sophisticated Boom Boom by Dead or Alive, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got by Sinéad O’Connor, Zenyatta Mondatta by The Police, Grace by Jeff Buckley, Love by The Cult. These are the albums that seemed to alter my trajectory in little ways…the evolution of my musical tastes.

In 1979, the B-52s took me in a whole new direction with their self titled album The B-52s. From that point on, I was buckled in for the ride. The very next stop on that journey was AVOID FREUD by Rough Trade.

From the moment I heard the first notes of Rough Trade, I was hooked. It’s been 43 years now. Carole Pope is a Canadian Icon and a queer icon. AN ABSOLUTE LEGEND. She has been out and proud and unapologetic for the duration of her tenure as THE Canadian Diva. Her courage to be who she is has always been a shining example for generations of queers. Whether she knows it or not, the music and vibes she put out into the world with Kevan Staples and Rough Trade gave strength and power to a whole generation of young queers.

Last Thursday evening Carole Pope and Rough Trade were one of 13 bands inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame! Such a long time coming for many of those honoured. Carole & Kevan seriously changed the face of the music scene here in Canada when they hit the airwaves. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of the Walk of Fame honour than them. They finally earned their wings!

Rough Trade had a special guest pop in for a couple of songs! Here’s Carole Pope with Hawksley Workman! I do believe they were having fun!

Carole Pope with another special guest! **Chilina Kennedy**!

We were lucky enough to have tickets to the Walk of Fame Party concert that Rough Trade threw at Phoenix Concert Theatre on Friday night. Not just lucky enough to be there, we were firmly wedged against the stage enjoying the concert from the best viewpoint there is. I felt 16 again, 17 again, 18 again…back in those days when we would hit any and every Rough Trade concert we heard about. Back in the heyday, when we would buy their albums on release day, unwrap that plastic, un-sleeve the vinyl and drop the needle in eager anticipation! Remember the smell of newly unwrapped vinyl?! I’ll never forget it.

Not only giving an incredible performance herself, it also looked like **Chilina Kennedy** was a little in awe of her duet partner! The two were amazing together!

The night was, in every way, a celebration of the life of a rock band. One that gave so much to the landscape of our country. Their celebratory mood could be felt by the entire theatre. It was truly a gift to be there.

Canadian Icons, Rough Trade. Walk of Fame members…finally.

(all photos were taken by me.)

Paris – Day 5 – September 13th – EMMANUEL’S HIDDEN GEMS!

My 57th Birthday! In Paris!

We started my birthday off under the rainbow umbrellas of Le Ju’ in the Marais again. We visited this place a few times during our two weeks. They had the perfect quick breakfast of coffee, orange juice, baguettes and pain au chocolat!

The highlight of our day was to be the two tours we booked with Emmanuel’s Hidden Gems. We had heard so many great things about Emmanuel’s tours and we were excited to experience them ourselves!

EMMANUEL’S HIDDEN GEMS FACEBOOK PAGE is the best way to contact Emmanuel. There’s a MESSAGE button at the top of the page. Emmanuel also has a Facebook Group, which you can find here.

Throughout our two week trip, we booked 4 of the 6 tours Emmanuel offers. For my birthday, we had 2 of those tours— The Marais in the morning and Montmartre in the afternoon. It doesn’t get much better than that!

As the name of Emmanuel’s tours suggests, these are carefully curated tours that will show you the hidden gems of the areas specific to each tour. You’ll see things you might otherwise walk past or miss all together. And there are stories to go along with the places Emmanuel points out along the way. I’ve been to these areas in the past, but these tours opened them up to me in new ways. I loved the details of the stories shared, and I really did feel like we were discovering hidden gems.

I’ll share a couple photos from each tour, but I wouldn’t want to give it all away by oversharing photos of everything we saw.

The Marais is rich with history and Emmanuel’s knowledge of the area gave us a wealth of information we would have otherwise missed. He brought the Marais to life for us.

Emmanuel took us to so many special places on his Marais tour that we might have simply passed by without being shown. Truly hidden gems!

The Marais tour also has a couple well curated food stops, as well. Be prepared for some awesome delicacies!

After an amazing morning discovering some secrets of the Marais, Michael and I made our way to Montmartre. Reluctantly, we decided to take the Metro. We very rarely take the Metro. It’s excellent and extremely easy, but we prefer to walk. Walking in Paris, the journey is as exciting as the destination.

When you come up out of the Metro at Abbesses station (there are a LOT of stairs out of this station, so you might want to take the elevator up), you will see the Wall of Love directly behind the Metro exit.

We took a peek at the wall while we waited for the Montmartre tour to begin. We visited this sight when we were in Paris in 2021.

Emmanuel walked us around the neighbourhood of his childhood, entertaining us with amazing stories and more of the hidden gems an outsider might not notice on their own. The way he peppered stories and memories into his walking tour was perfect. It made the place open up to us and made us feel a deeper connection with it.

Another great thing about Emmanuel’s tours is that once he’s finished showing you the details off the beaten path, he ends the tours in the heart of the area. The Montmartre tour ended at the back of Sacré-Cœur Basilica, a perfect place to begin to explore the area on your own after learning so much of the neighbourhood’s history! HUGE thank you to Emmanuel for making my birthday such an extra special day! We saw so many amazing things on these two tours!

The Instagram famous La Maison Rose, in the heart of Montmartre.

Our expectations for Emmanuel’s first two tours were met and exceeded! It was the perfect way to spend my birthday.

After the Montmartre tour, and a little walk around the Basilica, we were off in the direction of our next stop! We chose Bouillon Chartier for my birthday dinner. We’d eaten there during our 2021 visit and enjoyed it very much. Time for a redo! It was just as wonderful as our memories suggested.

After dinner, we were in for one of those amazing Paris walks where you take in so many beautiful sights all at once…the kind of thing that makes you feel like a flâneur out for an endless stroll to nowhere and everywhere all at once!