We are making our first trip to France, arriving Monday, September 16. I enjoy music of all kinds and am interested in knowing if there are opportunities that could be fit into our itinerary. Our overnight stays are as follows: Arles (Monday-Thursday) Sarlat (Friday-Sunday) Chenonceaux (Monday) Mont St.-Michel (Tuesday) Bayeau (Wednesday) Versailles (Thursday-Friday) Paris (Saturday-Wednesday) RS mentions opportunities to hear monks singing in Gregorian chant; organ concerts or recitals in cathedrals. Would greatly appreciate any knowledge you have in this regard.
THANK YOU!
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10621 posts
If you can muddle your way through a bit of French, here is the website for the Officielle des Spectacles, or weekly guide to everything happening in Paris. I've copied the "concerts" section into the link. Just plug in your dates and choose your kind of music. You'll see hundreds of choices. Many are weekly, like the free organ concerts on Sunday afternoons. No one passes a hat because it's the official organist of the church playing. http://www.offi.fr/concerts Note: others, trios quartets, quintets, etc. say "entree libre" (free), but be ready to drop a couple euros in the donation basket to support the young musicians. Finally, there are the ticketed concerts. You can buy tickets on line at fnac.com which has an English website for tickets. Most of the other towns, you should ask the Tourist Information, or watch store windows for posters when you get there. There are far fewer concerts outside Paris except for scheduled music festivals. Check these on the TI websites for each town and the Versaille Palace website.
Posted by
Used to be Steilacoom, now it’s Las Vegas
2296 posts
I would recommend a concert in St.Chappelle, Paris ( it's late, so my spelling is suspect), especially at sunset. The music and the fabulous windows are something special. We ordered our tix online before we went and then just took our printout to collect the tix. I think you can view the programs on line.
Posted by
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
355 posts
There is a café out near the flea market called La Chope des Puces that is on my bucket list. From what I have read, it is somewhat of a shrine to Django Reinhardt, where they play jazz manouche on Sat & Sun from 2 until 7. I really wanted to check it out on my last trip to Paris, but wasn't able to fit it in. It's definitely on the list for my next trip. Not sure if it is something you would be interested in, or if anyone out on the helpline has been to the cafe - just throwing it out there...
Posted by
Florida (previously California)
3984 posts
I am not sure if they are open in September but you could try going to a guinguette, which are bars/taverns on the outskirts of Paris that have music and dancing on Sundays. See http://www.guinguette.fr/ or http://www.bonjourparis.com/story/paris-day-trip-guinguette-auvergnate/. Have a good trip.