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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

At Large Platonic Ideals in (and of) France

posted by Brendan Kiley on January 24 at 1:52 AM

January 18:

Marseille feels like the platonic ideal of a city—dirty, teeming, ornate, ancient, fecund. Once a resort town, it´s now got a terrible reputation because of the immigrants (Turkish, Algerian, Moroccan) and the poverty and its attendant crime. It looks officially neglected but undeniably alive. The streets are full of people (fashionable French, bearded men in jeballahs, Berber women with chin tattoos and hennah-dyed fingertips) and the walls are full of grafitti and soot.

Our host, Florian, was the platonic ideal of a Frenchman. He had a beautiful, huge apartment—wrought-iron balconies, high coffered ceilings, and an awesome record collection—that was dingy enough to feel comfortable. He spoke excellent English and Spanish and wore black, rectangular spectacles, casually mussed hair, and a hickey, demurely half-hidden by his collar. He was roommates with a half-Algerian man and an all-Moroccan woman. He also cooked the best food of any of the promoters on tour (I know—they cook for the bands here): pasta with garlic and parsley and a perfectly spiced ratatouille.

After the gig and a drink at his apartment, he dug around in the kitchen for some comte cheese and a bottle of bordeaux he had been saving. (“Poh!” said his roommate when Florian pulled out the bottle and was first in line to have a sip.) When he found out it was my birthday, he motioned me into the next room for a celebratory shot of absinthe. He and his girlfriend talked intelligently about immigration, architecture, and rock and roll while she rolled hash cigarettes to pass around. The next morning, he got up before everyone to make coffee and fetch fresh bread and chocolate. He was the soul and flower of grace and hospitality. I left his apartment with the same feeling I always have when confronted with perfection—a little bettered, a little ashamed.

January 23:

Clorox Girls and Holy Ghost Revival have been playing bars and clubs but their squat audience last night, in Logrono (the capital—I think—of La Rioja, which would make it the capital of Spanish wine), was great. So great that the bands got bucky and turned their usual finale (a punked-out group cover of Wooly Booly by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs) into a tour through rock and roll history, moving from Sam the Sham to the Misfits to the Germs to the Kingsmen to the Troggs and back into Wooly Booly. The crowd went nuts. We went nuts. Despite the dogs and the vegan anarcho-twits and the shitty beer. (Forseeing the latter, we brought five bottles with us into the squat. We should have brought ten.)

(Sorry I´m not slogging more—I´m hardly ever near a computer. I was surprised to see, on our host´s television yesterday morning, that Obama had declared he´s running in ´08.)

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Comments

Hey Brendan !
What a great description of Marseille !
My sister lives there and boy do I love it !
I miss the grit sometimes. Seattle can be so pretty and clean you know.

It's nice to read your adventures !

Best,

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