Paris, France
As I mentioned in earlier notes, my son Nick has been spending a few days with me while we've been basing out of Paris. He'll be going home tomorrow and we'll be moving on as well, so we fell out onto the boulevard for a late morning walk and ducked into a cafe for some coffee and lunch. I've enjoyed having his company very much and I'm tremendously proud that he's been doing some touring of his own.
There's always an air of anticipation when we play in Paris and tonight was no different. The venue, Bercy, is a large 11,000 seat arena with grass growing up the outside walls of the place. Don't ask. They suspend lawn mowers from steel supports that encircle the building, lowering them down on the turf when the grass needs a cut. I dunno. I'd like to have been present at the meeting when that idea was brought to the table. Maybe Guy will have a snap of the Bercy and it's grass walls in his diary entry for today.
It was a sold out show, all seated which made a difference from all the gigs we've played so far that have been standing. The Paris audience was brilliant and the new show is going down unanimously well.
We decided not to do a runner back to the hotel and hang at the gig for an hour or so to unwind. After a number of late nights, I was perfectly happy with a cuppa tea instead of the usual gin and tonic. When the traffic had cleared, we were taken back to the hotel where Nick and I joined Danny and Guy for few sounds before calling it an early night.
So long,
Richard