A Paris walk

I first went to Paris in the early 80s to do a radio show for a budding Radio Nova (101.5 fm), when that station, a joint project of Celluloid (label) / Actuel (magazine), played anything and everything - the more exotic the better. In the studio all day, dinner with my hosts, then off to catch a plane for the next city on my itinerary; the cab driver pointing to the Eiffel Tower in the distance. For this and many trips after, it was as close as I got to seeing the sights.

When I did have some spare time in Paris, I went looking for records. The first stop was always FNAC under Les Halles. Here you still get a good deal in a country where recordings run about $20 bucks. I would go straight to the large selection from former French colonies, and to the ticket outlet to find out who's playing where when. Later, when it opened, I would visit the Virgin Megastore on the Champs. Housed in a breathtaking old bank building, I often found obscure Euro-oddities, like a boxed set of Chet Baker 7" singles from Portugal. Recently, CDs and homogenization has made these grand magasins a lot less interesting, and shopping for musical treasures a lot more challenging.

Allez! (leisurely, lavish high-bandwidth version)
On y va! (quick, convenient low-bandwidth version)