Day Off in Paris

Totally relaxing day off here in Paris today. We're staying in the Bercy area, outside the city center. The venue for tomorrow's show is 5 minutes drive from the hotel.

I've stayed here before, so I know where a few things are. Early in the afternoon, I went wandering around Bercy Village, about a block from the hotel.

Bercy Village is an urban-renewal project in the 12th arrondissement, next to the modern Parc de Bercy and the Seine (you know, the river). It mostly consists of small wine warehouses from the late 19th Century that have been saved from decay by conversion into shops and restaurants. It's a great place to spend a few hours, especially if you're interested in urban design, cool architecture, or even just shopping. There are boutiques, pubs, restaurants, cafes and more.

I didn't feel like sitting down, so I grabbed a sandwich and took it back to my room to chow down while I checked email and worked for a while.

Molly called me to see if I wanted to go hang out with her and her French friend Helena. Helena lives in Lille, and had taken the train into Paris to visit Molly. I really did have work to do, so I had to take a pass. After later meeting Helena, of course, I coulda kicked myself for that one – she was lovely, and really cool.

Met up with Spragoo around 6 in the lobby bar, and had a couple of ($7.20 usd) Heinekens. Then we headed back over to Bercy Village to scout out dinner. Found a killer table along the cobblestone walkway, at some brewpub (can't remember the name). It was the perfect spot for watching all the day workers heading to the metro station on their way home. And later, the early and mid-evening diners and drinkers coming out.

The beer was awesome. I tried something I didn't like at first, but then switched to their Blonde, and stuck with it. We sat there for probably 3 hours, people watching and talking.

Spragoo (Mike Sprague to the outside world) is a riot; he's always got me in stitches. He's been on the road for a million years and has worked with everybody. But it's usually his Aerosmith stories that put me over the top. Whatever you may have heard about Steven Tyler's antics is just the tip of the iceberg. Best that I say no more.

I was quite buzzed and back in my room around 10pm. In bed by 11…