Le Vieux Belleville
Go to the Le Vieux Belleville. Don’t think about it, just do it.
Done it? Good. Now we can share our wonderful experiences together.
This night definitely had some Amelie charm for me. It was Friday the 13th- the last day of our language intensif classes. MICEFA was kind enough to schedule a celebratory dinner in Belleville and pay for the whole thing. We had choices between farm salad and seafood salad, confit de canard and salmon, and chocolate dessert and apple tart and tiramisu. I had the farm salad, confit de canard, and chocolate dessert. It was so delicious I wanted to just melt into my plate.
Now I don’t know how much you all know about me, but I love accordions. I love them so much. I have one at home that I’m borrowing indefinitely from an aunt but I’ve only fooled around on it- I really can’t play yet. When someone starts playing the accordion I often freeze and lose myself mid-thought. It’s happened a few times in the metro already. So what could possibly have made this dinner more awesome? What’s with the accordion tangent? Yes, folks, it was dinner AND a show. Minelle strolled through the restaurant singing and playing the night away while we ate. She led us in sing-alongs and had at least 3 different accordions for different songs- all buttons (instead of keyboards). So cool.
She pulled me aside afterwards to talk accordions… I wanted to know if there was a way for me to get an inexpensive small accordion or concertina here just to fool around and practice. My college career thus far has been musically lazy, but I really miss having instruments around me just for fun. In Flatbush I had a viola, a ukelele, an accordion, and a shitty guitar that I found in the bushes in Woodstock once. Here I have my itunes library and the vast depths of the internet but nothing tangible. Anyway, Minelle’s best advice was to try le french ebay… she said there used to be some reasonable shops in Paris but now everything is just too expensive. She recommended getting a child’s accordion (smaller and cheaper). The search begins! After I get a job!
The only thing that wasn’t included was alcohol but n’etait pas grave. I was on such a sensory overload with the food and the music that I didn’t want any wine. Imane bought herself a glass and then didn’t drink any- it was all too much to handle!
I don’t know what their usual prices are like- I’ll have to check that out myself- but I’d love to take any of my visitors this year to Le Vieux Belleville. Two thumbs up!
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