Fete de la Musique

The first day of summer is a big deal here in France. It is the longest day of the year, so the French celebrate by having a huge music festival. What I mean by huge is that there are bands, groups, people playing music everywhere you look. I was in Grenoble for this event and my music day kicked off with Gloria Estephan blaring from some speakers at a bar across from the train station while I was wainting for my train that got cancelled. After finding out I was going to stay for the night, I went to the garden to watch two guys who where playing guitars intermixed with accordians. They were somewhat folksy and very toe-tapping. When it started to get dark (at 10pm), I decided to head back to my hotel, but on the way I walked by this little bar on a corner with nothing else around it. There was a band set up to play, with a keyboard, guitars, drums, etc... They were warming up as I walked by and sounded like they'd be decent, so I popped a squat on the other side of the street as there were appoximately 8 chairs in front of the place that were already full of people. I watched their first two songs and then decided to head over to the bar and grab a glass of wine while watching the end of the first half of the soccer game. I figured out that Ambre was the name of the band and they were quite entertaining. I stayed for a few more songs and then headed back to my hotel. I fell asleep to the sounds of an African band playing outside somewhere close to my hotel.