A week devoted to recovery has a night to remember dropped in

The break in our posts has accommodated two “sick days” sandwiched around a visit by our friends from the Dijon region. The rainy walk through the Tuileries gardens four days ago took a toll on Lennie, whose sore throat ramped up the next day. And our Buddha Bar night with friends had the same effect, so it’s been an up-down-up and down again week. Happily, Lennie’s feeling better by week’s end, and our final 7 days in Paris are bound to be healthy – we’re determined.

Whatever they say about the Buddha Bar, they usually mention the music. You can find dozens of reviews of the place at TripAdvisor and elsewhere, and sooner or later the reviews come around to the music. More than the Buddha statue, more than the candlelight atmosphere and more than the food, it’s the pounding drive of the music at a conversation-killing level that both frustrates and infuses the experience. Tables of four may be able to carry on a conversation thread, but anything larger requires lip reading across the table.

While we tend to not comment on Paris prices – nobody held a gun to our heads to come – it’s nevertheless remarkable that drinks are in the 16-euro range, which translates to a $24 martini. We’ve experienced even higher prices here (beware high-end hotels near the Champs d’Élysée), and places like the Buddha Bar pretty much can charge what they want and still fill the place. Most tables seemed to be men-only business groups, and the evening was probably going to be “expensed” on somebody’s account. The food was pretty good, the service not so much (Doug’s dinner arrived five minutes after the other three), and the music certainly raised the heart rate. All in all, we’re pleased our friends suggested the place, and it was great to celebrate Greg's recent birthday there. That makes two birthdays among our little group celebrated together this year; the other was Lennie's on June 8. (See Journals at left; Provence & Paris '09 has photo of her birthday party thrown by Greg in the 6/13/09 post.)