You can't escape the past in Paris, and yet what's so wonderful about it is that the past and present intermingle so intangibly that it doesn't seem to burden.-Allen Ginsberg
Paris Trip - Part 1
In September, I was asked to attend a GSM conference by my employer and this took me to Paris - the City of Eternal Lights. I spent two days but consumed by attendance of the conference, I only managed to walk around the Eiffel Tower and the Bercy Village. I have always dreamed of Paris and decided that I would go again and be able to see the sights and experience a bit more of Parisian life.

So, a dear friend of mine who had recently moved to London from Trinidad and Tobago as well, and I decided to go to Paris the weekend after her birthday. After the stress of getting her an appointment at the French Consulate (I didn't need one because my employer had applied for a longer validity visa for me), we booked tickets to go and Gage's (www.gage.mu)

concert in Paris at the Le Bataclan, Eurostar tickets and a hotel close to the Gare du Nord. My friend got called back to an interview in Trinidad and despite all my efforts to find someone to go with me for free after going back and forth with eurostar and the hotel to transfer the reservation and the ticket to myself, I ended up going alone. The concert was spectacular and Gage's opening act was a new singer to the scene, Laure Milan.

The crowd was so hyped up, full of energy and into the music, very much unlike any concert or musical event I have ever been to. I definitely like the Paris vibe. I danced and sang and enjoyed the fabulous performance thoroughly. Although, the tickets to the concert that I bought on ebay were shipped to the US bymistake by La Poste in France and I had to buy another set of tickets, it was defintely worth it. Laure Milan is supposed to be coming out with an album soon and I will be getting it as her voice is one of the smoothest, clearest voices I have heard and her style is slamming. I highly recommend Gage's CD - Soul Rebel as well. He is tearing up the charts in France and the CD is engaging and rocking from Track 1 to the end.

Look out for Part 2 of my Paris Trip.....