     By maressa ciccone (Gal_In_Kzoo) on Saturday, February 16, 2002 - 01:28 pm: Edit |
I went to Paris over Martin Luther King weekend with my mom and we found a great little jazz club called 'Caveau de la Huchette.' It's located on 5 rue de la Huchette, 75005 Paris-M St. Micheal ou Cité. The telephone number is 01 43 26 65 05, email is huchette@aol.com. I have some picts and i'll try and do that when I figure out how. --Maressa (if someone could tell me how, that'd be great!) |
| By Gene (Gene) on Saturday, February 16, 2002 - 03:13 pm: Edit |
Hey, that was where Sherri and I danced last October! We were walking around the Latin Quarter one night and stumbled upon it. The bar is located just inside the door and the colorful bartender after popping open our beers would fling the caps sidearm into a small pail at the end of the bar, and make'm each time! Then it's downstairs to a cave-like basement setting where according to Frommer's Paris guide, the place served as a tribunal and prison during the French Revolution. There was a jazz quintet playing on the small stage on the right and dancing of every kind being done on the small dancefloor on the left. We saw jive, boogie woogie, west coast swing and we were the only ones doing lindy. We did our best considering that the floor is concrete and the surface felt like 100 grit sandpaper. Plus, it was hot down there! Our evening ended when some short bald stocky guy stumbled in drunk and started prancing around the dancefloor and removing particles of clothing and flinging them about. One by one, people started leaving and band members were becoming concerned. Then the last straw came when he came up to Sherri and tried to drag her onto the dancefloor against her will. She had one dance shoe already off and fought him off valiently without losing her arm in the process. He ran back to the dancefloor before I could do something about it. By then, the band leader left the stage to summon management and have the drunk removed. We left before we saw the outcome. That was our only experience of the caveau. Hope you had a better experience than we did, Maressa. |
| By maressa ciccone (Gal_In_Kzoo) on Saturday, February 16, 2002 - 03:32 pm: Edit |
Gene, Mom and I had an awesome experience. She actually found out about it from watching TV. She had remembered hearing about a swing club in the Latin Quarter and something about Huchette. We were walking around in the Latin Quarter and saw the street 'rue de la Huchette' and then found the club. The atmosphere was very nice, not quite like Claytons, but it was a good cultural experience. There's a live band there every night, and I think they have lessons twice a week. I spoke with one woman, in a mix of French and English, and she said that most people danced 'Boogie-Boogie' I think she meant Boogie Woogie. I told her I lindy hopped and she said that not too many people do that because it is 'too hard.' Lucky for me that my mom knows how to dance...so we danced a song or two and then sat back down. After that a bunch of guys came up and asked me to dance. It was a really interesting experience. No drunks though, although this one older guy (mid 40s?) kept asking me to dance and he was a really rough lead. But, I was thankful for being able to dance at all. |
| By Gene (Gene) on Wednesday, February 20, 2002 - 01:24 am: Edit |
Ahhh, Paris! There's this black and white photogragh of a couple swing dancing on the cobblestone walkway in front of some seated "friends" along the River Seine. Since I've gotten back from there, I've seen this photogragh about three different times in people's homes, but never before our trip to Europe. It must've been taken in the 30's or 40's. There's this bridge(Boulevard San Michel?) in the immediate background with a circle and the letter "N" inside it embossed from the masonry. It was this scene that motivated Sherri to recreate this photo with me once she found the right spot. Nancy and Ian were there earlier last year and tried to recreate that moment as well. Sherri tried in vain to remember all the details of this picture so we can come away with our very own updated version of that beautiful photogragh. However, we came to find out later that we shot our version caddy corner from where the original shot was taken. Plus, that location was occupied by bums camped along the walkway and looked unsafe, even though we walked though there earlier that day. No way was Sherri going to hand over her expensive Nikon to one of them while we struck our pose! Paris has so much to offer, but one can-NOT possibly experience it all in 5 days! We did our best to take it all in(The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Palace of Versailles, Jim Morrison's gravesite, fondues, crepes and souffles). We'd like to go back someday and experience more....and possibly take that shot over again. |
| By ++NancyAnne++ (Nancyanne) on Wednesday, February 20, 2002 - 08:41 am: Edit |
Gene, Lets double-date back to Paris this summer. This time I need to hit the Flea markets and eat more picnic foods from the markets. The fruit is amazing in France for some reason. |
| By bad kitty on Wednesday, February 20, 2002 - 09:47 am: Edit |
Genie, maybe you should post the picture we took. It is reasonably similar to the original photo. The original showed up on Swingorama about a year ago. Mmmmmmmmm Banana & chocolate crepes!! I'm ready to go again!! |
| By ++NancyAnne++ (Nancyanne) on Friday, February 22, 2002 - 07:02 pm: Edit |
When is Paris swing at the Napoleon Bridge:  Great photo Gene and Sherri |
| By Gene (Gene) on Monday, February 25, 2002 - 02:09 am: Edit |
Hey, thanks Ian. We found that poster at Cost Plus in La Jolla(like you said). Brought it last night and it's now hanging above my roommate's upright piano. I bet one out of every ten swing dancer in this whole wide world has that exact poster hanging in their own home(right?). The photo was actually taken in 1950(says so right on the poster), not the 30's or 40's I once thought. Furthermore, the "N" insignia on the bridge was cropped out of this shot(Hmmm, was I jipped?). Thanks Nancy for posting our photo for us. After looking at this again, I'm thinking, "Man, I should've worn something 'vintage' for that shot." I look too much like any "casual American tourist". How embarrassing! |
| By bad kitty on Monday, February 25, 2002 - 11:39 am: Edit |
Your outfit went well with my rayon pants, turtleneck and Naturalizer shoes. At least I didn't look like an American tourist. Generic tourist perhaps, but not an "ugly American". HA! I will try to upload the original photo. |
| By ++NancyAnne++ (Nancyanne) on Monday, February 25, 2002 - 01:48 pm: Edit |
Here it the Original  |
| By Gene (Gene) on Monday, February 25, 2002 - 07:23 pm: Edit |
There you go! Thanks Nancy! Memo to Sherri: "Who you callin' ugly?" |
| By bad kitty on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 - 09:33 am: Edit |
Certainly not you, Gene. Nice Camp Hollywood shirt. ;-) |
| By bad kitty on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 - 09:42 am: Edit |
Actually, the day we arrived in Paris, the headlines read "Bush Bombs Afghanistan, Americans should lie low." The English press recommended NOT looking American. I planned ahead, with plain tops and black pants. Gene's fashion theory is "buy a t-shirt at every exchange and camp I go to". So, for safety, we went guy clothes shopping right away in Paris. He got a couple plain shirts. Then, people started speaking Spanish to him! Ironically, the affordable guy fashion we found in Paris was modelled after American athletic wear - big shirts and baggy cargo pants. |
| By maressa ciccone (Gal_In_Kzoo) on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 - 10:05 am: Edit |
Hello all, I would still like to know how to post my picutres....if someone could tell me, that'd be great! Thanks, Maressa |
| By bad kitty on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 - 02:00 pm: Edit |
Maressa, we would love to see your pix! If I knew how to post them, I'd let ya know. Shawn put instructions on here a couple weeks back, but I don't recall which thread they were in. |
| By pond/pie girl (Heather) on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 - 04:05 pm: Edit |
Maressa go to the formatting section on the left side of the screen. That should help you. I miss you. |
| By maressa ciccone (Gal_In_Kzoo) on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 - 06:02 pm: Edit |
i messed up...the next one works... |
| By maressa ciccone (Gal_In_Kzoo) on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 - 06:13 pm: Edit |
I hope this works! This is of me dancing:  This is the flyer they had there:     --Maressa |
| By Ron (Ron) on Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - 04:03 pm: Edit |
Cool! |
| By Opus1 (Ian) on Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 05:54 pm: Edit |
Caveau de la Huchette is a cool place. Kind of small but lots of ambience. Unfortunately, during the summer seems to only be Americans and Boisterous retired Portugese. |
| By gary newvine (Newvy) on Thursday, July 18, 2002 - 12:43 pm: Edit |
I am on my way to PARIS this coming monday but only passing through so that I can watch LE TOUR... I will be back in PaRIS for the SUNDAY night 7-28. I was looking for a fun place to go dancing. I remember the first time ever in paris was in july 1990, and being stuck there for the night I walked along the river, and saw a group of people swing dancing!! I didnt swing dance then, but thought how extrordiary it would be to find that situatin agaiN! does anyone know of a fun place to go in LONDON as well?? I will be there monday night, tuesday night!! Thanx for any input! Newvy |
| By Gene (Gene) on Friday, July 19, 2002 - 01:58 am: Edit |
You BASTARD!!! I've always wanted to check out the Tour de France. When I was racing 10 years ago, I almost went with a half dozen bike racing buddies to France to experience the Tour first hand. They all took their racing bikes along and would cover parts of the exact route the racers would, only hours beforehand. They even covered the famed summit at L'Alpe D'Huez. Bastards! Now a days, the only way I'd go up that mountain is on a motorcycle. Will you be doing the same thing-riding your bike around? I think there is still swing dancing at the 100 Club on Monday nights in London(100 Oxford St.). I still get advertisements via email from Robert and Claire for their Sunday night gigs there. Checkout www.swinginter.net for more info and links. For Paris, check out Le Caveau de la Huchette and the Slow Club(jazz clubs). Also, there's a dance club on a floating barge on the Seine called Le Ruban Bleu. It's on Sundays. If you know your French, call this number for info:01-4555-47-12. Have fun in Europe and steer clear of those wacky promotional caravans that zoom through the course before the racers do. Go Lance! |
| By julius (Julius5) on Friday, July 19, 2002 - 03:54 pm: Edit |
GO LANCE!! |
| By Katherine A. (Katherine) on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 09:32 am: Edit |
See, Gary, I *told* you the same guy always wins... Hope you had a blast! (When you told me you were going to watch the race, I had no idea you were actually going over there! How cool!) |
| By Gene (Gene) on Monday, July 29, 2002 - 06:52 pm: Edit |
"HURRAY for LANCE!!!". . .four-peat, four-peat, four-peat,. . .goin' for five! Total domination, American style! How does THAT taste, Frenchys?! |
| By julius (Julius5) on Tuesday, July 30, 2002 - 09:53 am: Edit |
Hey man, give some credit to his team! US Postal was unbelievably strong this year. I mean, they had Viatcheslav friggin Ekimov as a domestique for Lance! A few years ago he was a contender for the yellow jersey. Plus Roberto Heras, and the rest of the usual suspects. But having said that, GO LANCE! He is the first person since Indurain to have a credible shot at six. Indurain unfortunately pooped out in his later years and retired in ignominy. Lance has already said he's going to race two more years and hang it up ... which gives him exactly enough time to win six. Providing Jan Ullrich doesn't come back next year weighing 20 pounds lighter, I see no problems for Lance. |
| By Amy (Blueangel) on Tuesday, July 30, 2002 - 10:43 pm: Edit |
Hey how old are you gonna be Julius? |
| By Gene (Gene) on Wednesday, July 31, 2002 - 01:32 am: Edit |
Yeah, his team had alot to do with his success this year, especially in the mountains. Roberto Heras was huge again this year when they needed him to chase down breakaways by Lance's closest rivals or set the tempo on the climbs, much like what Bernard Hinault and Andy Hampton did for Greg LeMond in his victories. Toward the end, the final individual time trial is pretty much a statement maker to the rest of the cycling world as to who's the strongest in the field and the Tour's rightful winner. Lance hammered it home! Lance has a very good chance for five. He needs to have a strong team again and to have his US Postal sponsorship back him up again 100%. Outside of perhaps Once's Joseba Beloki or Alex Zulle(where was he?), there is no one capable of challenging Lance for the Tour next year. Perhaps the other Americans Bobby Julich of Confidis, Levi Leipheimer of Rabobank and Tyler Hamilton of CSC-Tiscali can come of age by then and compete with Lance. Laurent Jalabert is mainly a sprint specialist but he won the mountain jersey in this year's Tour! As for Jan Ullrich, he is having drug problems again and I don't think he has what it takes for him to win again. Incidently, Team Telekom is having finacial problems and might fold by the end of this year. As long as he stays healthy, I can see Lance competing for two more years with perhap two more Tour wins in him. I just hope he doesn't "crack" during the race the way Miguel Indurain did while going for six straight. I don't remember whether it was a health issue and whether he cracked under the pressure of his own success? Wow, Julius, are you a bike racing fan or just a well informed kind of guy? See you in Seattle. |
| By julius (Julius5) on Wednesday, July 31, 2002 - 10:34 am: Edit |
I'm going to be a prime number. I used to ride a lot (well, relatively speaking... I only did one century) and for a while followed Indurain intensely during his golden years. I need to get back on the bike someday. I think Indurain had health issues during his sixth attempt and after that he was just too old. My friend and I agree Lance will do six in a row or won't do six at all. I feel kind of bad for Ullrich. He was so dominating in between Indurain and Armstrong, except he kept coming in second... Jalabert's retiring. Virenque retired too. It's really the end of the nineties as far as the Tour goes. From now on all the names are going to be unfamiliar to me! I wish I had cable; then I could follow the Tour. But it's not really cost-effective. We should have a Tour viewing party next year  |
| By Amy (Blueangel) on Wednesday, July 31, 2002 - 04:16 pm: Edit |
hmmmm 23, 29, or 31? |
| By Gene (Gene) on Thursday, August 01, 2002 - 01:36 am: Edit |
Shoot, if anyone needs to get back on his bike and ride again, it's me! I need to lose some serious LB's right about now! When out dancing, at times it feels like a piano is strapped on my back. Keep me in the loop on this viewing party next year. Sounds like fun. Happy Birthday |
| By julius (Julius5) on Thursday, August 01, 2002 - 10:26 am: Edit |
Clearly we need to do Orange County->San Diego centuries, heheheh. Man if I had bicycle endurance while dancing I'd be able to keep up with 250 bpm songs all night long. *fantasize* |
| By Gene (Gene) on Thursday, August 01, 2002 - 08:52 pm: Edit |
That's a nice dream :-) ...and I'm not talking about century rides. |
| Administrator's Control Panel -- Board Moderators Only Administer Page | Delete Conversation | Close Conversation | Move Conversation |