Do you remember your first trip to Paris? The Earful Tower Patreon members have been sharing their stories and old photos all week, and it got me talking to friends and family about the same topic.
I was astonished to hear an early Paris story from my Swedish father-in-law, which involved a blue tie, a Montmartre bartender, and a cunning plot to get into a Paris fashion show – all to impress his wife Ann-Louise.
I turned on the microphone and Jakob shared the full story with us all. Here it is below, followed by a bunch of pictures from that fateful trip in the mid-1980s.
Mentioned in this episode were the Charles Aznavour songs Non je n’ai rien oublié and Emmenez moi, and I’ve embedded my Instagram video with Parisians singing on the balcony.
The song played in the intro and outro was Sous le ciel de Paris, performed off the cuff by our guest Jakob on the double bass.
And the fashion house was Carven, which still exists at 6 Rdpt des Champs-Élysées Marcel-Dassault, 75008. I plan to go and find it this week.
Jakob’s pictures from the Paris trip
See you next week with another new episode. Here are all the epsiodes from the past to keep you going. And join the Patreon members here!
Yes. I had been bicycling through Europe – London to Rome – and circled back to spend a week with friends on their year abroad in Dijon. We took the train to Paris for a weekend. At the Arch de Triomph we ran across the traffic lanes to reach the center. We saw the Impressionist paintings housed at the Jeu de Pomme ? King’s Tennis Courts and walked the Champs Elysee. My friends had been to Paris many times before and were unconcerned for showing me the sights. It was another 20 years before I returned and spent a proper week walking in every direction for miles and miles with a Rick Steves Guide Book
What a fun story! Thanks to you and to Jakob for sharing this.