La Fête de la Musique

The first day of my internship was June 21st, which is the same day of La Fête de la Musique.  This is a festival that lasts all night on summer solstice (the most daylight of the year), where different people play music all over the city. Professionals and non-professionals are encouraged to play and it doesn’t cost anything and the musicians don’t get paid.  The slogan is “Faites de la Musique” (Make Music), a homophone of “Fête de la Musique” (Musical Festival).

We had such a great time.  The streets of Lyon were packed with rollerbladers, college students, couples, street vendors and everyone in leather jackets.  And the later it got, the more people there were.  Everyone was drinking, smoking and grooving with the musique. {It is legal to drink and smoke in France at age 16, but no one really cares about that rule}. We actually heard a lot of French metal, which was terrible.  Actually all the music was pretty terrible, but different cultures, different tastes I suppose.  We had our first Nutella crêpes of the trip that night - Nate’s first Nutella crêpe ever!  We were very excited.