PARIS CARNIVAL 2013 COVERAGE
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Carnaval Tropical de Paris Jul 6th, 2013

Carnaval Tropical de Paris Official After Party Jul 6th, 2013

Carnaval Tropical de Paris 2013

Carnival Ref's log: Friday, June 28, 2013 5:45 AM

Received an e-mail from TJJ's Roopie as follows.... "paris has some kinda carnival. anyone can go? I can't maybe moving.
machel will be there this year too. first time. let's be first again....."

Roopie ..... you had me at "CARNIVAL"!! Exactly one week later Juicy Juice and myself landed in Paree... not to see the Eiffel Tower... not to see the Louvre... BUT to seek out and conquer new carnival territory.

It's a 2 day itinerary with 3 main events. Short and sweet. This allowed us to relax and enjoy the lovely Paris weather, it's sites and cuisine's. Can't get enough frites, escargot and beef tartare (avoid the 'served to order'). And this time around, what the heck ... Frog Legs too! We went all out. And yes, taste like chicken!

I digress... oh yes, Carnaval Tropical de Paris. Saturday was the "Parade of the Bands" from 2PM-8PM. Fifty (50) carnival groups all gathered at Place de la Nation, then journeyed along an estimated 4.5 km route where the bands are judged at Place Léon Blum before returning to Place de la Nation.

Besides your French representation (including the likes of Martinique and Guadeloupe groups), other countries heritage were celebrated including Colombia, Brazil, Denmark, Indonesia and Vietnam. WAIT... somebody missing.... somebody missing.... yes, that's the sound of crickets chirping!! No signs of a T&T band, or as a matter of fact, no signs of any West Indian band! The sweet sounds of Soca music was a far cry away. What you did get however was some 4,000 dancers in colourful costumes, dozens of floats and a tons of drummers each giving their synchronized routine along certain points of the parade route. #disappointedTrini

The "Official After Party" was held just outside central Paris at the Palacio nightclub. And for the first time in Paris was the undisputed Soca king Machel Montano, who was in town promoting his new single for "Mr. Fete" in collaboration with French artistes Matt Houston and Kulu G. Machel gave a short and energetic performance, which included hit songs "Bend Over", "One More Time", "The FOG" and "Mr. Fete" to the loud screams of our fellow Trinis (Neishel ... we can still hear you) and West Indians living in Paris.

On the Sunday, the awards ceremony was held at Charlety Stadium (Stade Charléty) with a presentation of costumes, battle groups and performances by Marlo, Jam Jay (duo Jamice and Djay Kylgan) Clayton Hamilton, Ken Carter and special invited guest Machel Montano.

THE CALL: So to answer the question, "Does Paris have a carnival?" The answer is ... YES! But it's not the typical Trinidad style carnival filled with half naked masquerades all wining, jamming and drinking in a band to Soca music. Carnaval Tropical de Paris is truly a 'parade of bands' ... minus the bacchanal.

We Know Carnival ... We Love Carnival ... WE ARE CARNIVAL!

Yours truly,
Daddy Juice aka The Carnival Ref

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