Parc Floral: Excellent Concert Venue, Resplendent Garden, Chest Hair Gallery

What better place to enjoy an afternoon of jazz in Paris? Surrounded by verdant flora under Lapis Lazuli skies, Parc Floral is host to myriad shirtless Frenchmen and conversely, great jazz concerts. This is not to say that a shirtless Frenchman is excluded from being a great jazz musician, but in this case most of the performers exuded a bit more class. A wonderful picnic area, I found myself entranced by the lush environment as I saw weekend after weekend of jazz shows to the tune of 2€50 (demi tarif). I was able to see the same bands I would see in the United States, except there I would have had to pay somewhere around $20 (ouch.) For this reason alone, I fell in love with Parc Floral. Despite the half-naked Frenchmen, I was able to ignore them and focus on the performances that were undoubtedly inspired by the serene habitat and enthusiastic crowd. The highlight for me was discovering a new Parisian artist named Pierre de Bethmann who I will assuredly name my cat after one day. His compositions were incredible and I could not have had a much better time anywhere else in Paris. If you ever get the chance to see an outdoor concert at Parc Floral, bring some cheese, some bread and a couple bottles of wine and simply bask in the glory of it. It wouldn’t hurt to bring a can of mace either, but that is optional.

http://www.parcfloraldeparis.com/parc_floral.html