Paris or Die by Jayne Tuttle

Author:Jayne Tuttle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Hardie Grant Travel
Published: 2019-10-21T16:00:00+00:00

Friday

THOUGH IT’S BEEN a tradition since the ’70s for Lecoq students and teachers to frequent Chez Jeannette, the Albanians from the Mauri7 bar across the road, with its Madonna posters, Mucha frescoes, and sticky tables with heavy-set men huddled over them, tempt us across the street with their cheap drinks and cool attitude about us eating our student lunches at their tables. Qui a bu, boira reads a plaque behind the bar – ‘Who has drunk, will drink’ – and we do, on Friday afternoons that spill into Saturday mornings, and on many other nights of the week. But on Friday nights the students from Gaulier, another physical acting school in the suburbs of Paris, come to party with the Lecoq students. Tim, the manager of Mauri7, lets us play our own music and generally own the place, to the bewilderment of the regulars.

I invite Kiki and Adrien to come one Friday night when the bar is particularly steamy and jam-packed with students from both schools. Meg introduces me to a friend of hers from Gaulier, a petite Australian with bright white teeth and a perfect blond bun who I’ve seen on television back home. Her name is Nadine and she’s also on a scholarship. Nadine is with her friend Harry, a documentary film-maker born in Australia and raised in Paris, who with his sand-coloured hair and relaxed clothes looks like he’s just emerged from the surf. They both live in the area: Nadine in the 9th and Harry around the corner from me in the rue de Marseille. Neither has heard of the Récollets, and don’t know it even when I describe it to them.

Kiki wades through the seething mass of bodies to join us, and I direct everyone down the back, to where Adrien sits sandwiched between a group of Lecoq actors and a couple engaged in a passionate kiss. His back is very straight. He smiles and stands as we approach and I introduce Nadine and Harry. They all kiss and Nadine is pulled away by a friend, leaving Adrien, Kiki, Harry and me standing in an uncomfortably close formation until the kissing couple conveniently leave and we have room to sit down.

‘It’s my birthday!’ Kiki says to Adrien with glee, holding up the bracelet I bought her.

‘Ow hold are you?’ asks Adrien politely.

‘Old!’ she says and jumps up to grab a waiter, leaving me sitting between Harry and Adrien on the banquette, unable to talk to both at once. I hold Adrien’s hand as I talk to Harry about the recent Australian election, trying to communicate at the same time with Adrien with my back. After a while I make an excuse to go to the bathroom, so as to change the formation, and when I return Adrien and Harry are talking in French. Relieved, I go to find Kiki. She’s in the corner talking to Marc Finland.

A waitress comes over with a tray of shots.

‘Down the hatch!’ says Kiki, and we throw back the spicy vodka, which makes me prickle all over.

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