First (mini) EU Tour

With this weekend in the rear view mirror we can look back on the first mini EU tour with nothing but happiness. We booked a room in Antwerp for Friday and a room in Paris for Saturday. We tried to find a nice open mic and thought Antwerp would have one for that night. Maybe a bit optimistic. Plan B was to play outside. We had all the equipment needed to play without needing power or something, but then the weather did not allow it. Searching, searching, searching!

Plan C unfolded, an open mic in Brussels. Just 45 min drive to there and another "interesting" stage presented itself when we entered the building where the open mic should be. There was a guy with a bright orange wig playing a Jew’s harp, a few people in the audience, one mic & one speaker. We parked the car closer, got the piano and we had the privilege of playing a 45 minute gig. Kind of a language barrier since we don’t speak a word of French, but it was a success nonetheless. They were happy to have people on stage, we were happy with being able to play. The way it should be! The only downside was, NO COFFEE, why?! Just a few pubs and bistros later we finally found coffee. Nom nom!

The drive to Paris the next day went smoothly, but then we found out that the city center was another 45 min drive away. The AirBnB that we booked was far from what we expected, there was no real parking on the premises and the dude did not speak English at all. He had to use Google translate, but it was far from coherent. We drove down a ramp what was just about wide enough to drive through, but the gate at the bottom of this steep ramp was closed. Finally we got him to open it so we could turn around, but the way backup was hellish. We made it tho! Unpack, dude still trying to make some sort of point. Finding a place to park, dude still trying to make some sort of point. I don't know what the original message was, but at one point his phone told us that we "could not poop the car in front of the building because there would be a high probability of people braking in". Never saw a car take a dump before. I believe the dude is, even now, still trying to make his point. So we just drove off, just to get away. It was smelly and had a weird vibe. But all well, it was just a place to store our stuff and sleep a few hours.

Logically the traffic over there was not as bad as the traffic that we expected, but that changed when we tried to find a nice place in Paris to either play outside or play at an open mic we found. The place that was recommended for playing outside was transformed into an open air festivity or something with a DJ in the gazebo.

Anther plan B opportunity! Driving in the city center was no joke, but Jeanette soon learned how to blend in and adapt to their crazy way of driving. We ended up driving past the place that was hosting the open mic, it was another outdoor festivity but it looked nice!. The downside was that it was very busy and there were no spots for parking. found a parking garage on the navigation, but it did not exist in real space, found another but redirected by police and traffic was a nightmare. We decided to give up the quest and take on the next mission.

Another plan C that was a success! We ended up at the Eifel Tower and played a few songs in the park beneath it. It was dark and the tower was lit, video’s will come online shortly on our Facebook page! It was magical!

Now there is a trail of stickers throughout the city!

Sunday we drove back home and we can look back on a successful first tour