11. A Night Out

It rained again yesterday so I decided it was a good opportunity to put in a solid 8 hours on my project.  This meant Paul had to amuse himself.

He disappeared for an hour or so and when he returned, rattled around in the kitchen for a while before disappearing again.  Dressed in shorts and Vibrams (gloves for your feet) I figured he couldn't go far or get into too much trouble, so I worked on. 

An hour later he came in, puffing and stripped back to a tee shirt.  He had hopped on a Velib bicycle and ridden in the traffic down rue de l'Opera to the Olympia Theatre in the Opera-Madeleine district to buy tickets to see Madeleine Peyroux, who is one of my favourite singers. Wow! I am suitably impressed.

So .... we are going to have a night out.   

"We're leaving at 7.30 so we need a snack before we go" says Paul.  "Keep working, I'll get it" says the man who has perfected the art of never standing in front of a stove.   

I'm doubly impressed.

Next time I look up he is sitting in front of his computer, with the translator open, reading the back of a box of '12 Escargots de Bourgogne'.  He went out to buy bread, milk and grapefruit juice and apparently came back with bread, cakes and snails.

We had discovered these excellent snails in garlic butter in the Burgundy (Bourgogne) region on our last trip and became addicted.

They come on a specially shaped foil tray so they don't wobble around.  

Six minutes in a hot oven it said on the packet - and they were fabulous with fresh baguette. 

Seated and waiting for Madeliene Peyroux in the Blue Room at the Olympia.

Madeleine Peyroux - You Tube 

Terrible photo.  But there was quite a crowd on stage - she had drums, keyboard, guitar and double bass in her own band and was supported by eight violins, two cellos and another double bass from Paris.  The sound was incredibly good.  The lighting was stunning.  And she was in top form - she sang non-stop for 90 minutes.  A great benefit for me - most songs were in English. 

Madeleine Peyroux

We caught a train home.  The Metro at 11pm.

Waited for take-home kebab and salad at 11.10 pm, around the corner in rue Montegueil.

And walked down our street rue Bachaumont at 11.20 pm.

Great night, Paul!  

But dinner at 11.30 doesn't go down all that well any more.