I'm leaving !
I'm leaving France for a four9 months trip.
If you want to follow me, read this blog from time to time and tell me your thoughts and/or advice.
I'm not a traveler, I'll do my best. You're authorized to laugh at me. I hope I'll be able to entertain you through pictures, videos, and much more !
Lorely and I were sitting on the terrace of a restaurant in the evening, drinking our beer when suddenly a guy behind her turned on our side and asked Lorely ?. This is how I met Daniel, a friend of Lorely she didn't see for more than 10 years. They start talking together about the good old times, and meanwhile I texted Miguel, a young cinematographer I met when he surfed my couch in Paris in 2012 (he was invited to the Cannes Film Festival). I knew he was here too because he had seen the following picture I had posted on facebook :
Sunday evening dancing in the zocalo in Merida.
and asked me are you in Merida ??? He must have figured it out from the background of the picture maybe ?
He was there for a few days, because he had the opportunity to buy cheap plane tickets, this was his excuse anyway. A little bit later he joined us with his brother, Carlos. It was the third time I was meeting Miguel, once and always in a different city : Paris, Mexico city, Merida.
At some point the musicians who were playing next to the restaurant doors were invited by Daniel to come have a beer with us. Miguel & Carlos then played a couple of songs together :
Carlos (left) and Miguel (right).
It was a very nice ans lovely evening, warm weather, friendly people, everybody was very happy.
Finally, after a few more beers, enough for the waiter to be confused who had been drinking what, everybody returned home.
I was in Coyoacan during the Day of the Deads festivities (about which I'll talk about later), sitting on a bench resting my feet and talking with my old friend Marion who came to visit Mexico city for 10 days, when the young woman who was sitting next to me asked me something in Spanish.
I didn't get what she was asking so I told her that I was frances. When she hanged up her cell phone she started talking french to me ! She studied business and had spent one year in Nice, where she learned french. A few days later she sent me an SMS inviting me to a free outdoor concert at the Centro Nacional de las Artes which was very closed to where Marion was staying.
I though this place was small, hell no, it's very large ! We finally decided to follow some people walking up some laaaarge stairs surrounded by tall walls painted red, and walk in the direction of some lights. Lost we were after a few minutes, but we crossed some folks talking english, equipped like alpinists, which indicated us the good path (a corridor made of pillars on each side and illuminated by lights on the ground, very 2001 Space Odyssey style).
I was told only two things, 1- the artist's name was Dana Leong 2- it was a jazz concert.
I love jazz music, I listen to a lot of bebop, so I expected something like this. But no, it wasn't at all bebop, but some electro pop jazz music I've never heard before. On Dana Leong website you can read :
Composer, cellist and trombonist Dana Leong fuses jazz, classical and pop to create a signature boundless sound. Often referred to as a "hi-def Yo-Yo Ma," Dana’s pioneering collage of musical styles has garnered critical acclaim and wowed audiences around the world.
Maybe the Yo-Yo Ma reference is a little bit exaggerated but the music was great. Here is a picture and a few videos of the concert (found on youtube).
Dana Leong at the Centro National de las Artes, Mexico City.
Miguel is a young cinematographer. I hosted him in Paris this summer before he went to the Cannes film festival.
He invited me to a concert in a rock bar in Condesa (Caradura) where he was playing with his band, Linger. Here are some pictures. I want to thank all the very friendly people I met there, it was great fun !
