France, part two

[charlatan_mudo]

From north to south, on the road back to Spain I've come through a number of places. Here they are in chronological order:

Lille, Reims, Paris, Chartres, Orleans, Tours, Vendome, Poitiers, Angouleme and Bordeaux, which is where I'm hanging out at the moment.

That's the list up to today; whether or not the fact that even performing on a windy thursday in Angouleme I did okay is relevant to anyone doing only circle shows, in other words a "real" performer, is something I can't judge. Truth is that even though I don't consciously try to attract crowds, whether large or small, they do tend to form quite frequently during each of the four or five shows I do a day.

Oh yes, before I forget: I also worked two cities in Germany, three in Holland and one in Belgium. But that, as the saying goes, is another story.

[worldwidese]

Fill us in

Did you do OK in the other towns in France?
Were you hassled by the flics anywhere?
Do you travel by public transport, and crash in Hostels, or do you have a van or motor home?

[charlatan_mudo]

"Answering machine"

Only Lille, Paris and Bordeaux are what can be called big cities; all the others are department/district capitals with a relatively small amount of inhabitants where acting one day is good, but two in a row are already too many. Didn't even attempt to do so. As far as transport and lodging are concerned, I travel by railway using the TER (french for regional express train) and crash out either in affordable hotels or on the street (in Paris I got a sleeping bag AND a blanket for free which have come in handy these past few days). My philosophy regarding towns to do my thing is very simple: "Anywhere goes". And even though some places are obviously better than others, I have not yet been proved completely wrong. If before twelve AM tomorrow I find a room in a hotel, I'll stay in Bordeaux for the week. If not, there's a train headed for Dax at twenty-one minutes past midday. To be continued.

E

PS The "flics" have not caused me problems anywhere other than Paris (for more info see the "Busking anywhere?" thread started by cstreet in this same forum).