Blois.

We're having a much more relaxed time of things in Blois. The weather's been great again and we're about to have drinks before dinner. Chris is going to have a fun night as his current (KatieJane) and ex girlfriend are both here tonight, but then again he has been married three times so it's all his own fault.

When looking at the poster shown above I get the feeling someone had a bit of a laugh when asked by a French blues rock band, "What would be a good name for our group? We want to be popular in England."

It's a fine morning in Rennes and my door worked beautifully. Blois, our next stop, is only 150 miles away so we can afford to drive at whatever the car equivalent of a mosey is. Ruby Throat were first on of three last night and played a blinder, KatieJane edging ever closer to falling off her chair as she does her thing. The headliners were rubbish, prompting Chris and I to heartily agree that most French music is shite, until we found out the lead singer was from Swindon. Saying that, French headliners John & Jehn at the Grenoble gig were pretty special.

I honestly don't know how travel by road was possible before sat-nav. Chris has a Binatone model (unsurprisingly the cheapest available, the tight bastard) which has a start-up screen which proclaims "drive like a local." That would explain some of the advice the unit gave in Paris such as, "before the next exit, veer randomly across all lanes" and "drive aggressively for the next two miles."

Finally in Rennes after the longest half-asleep car journey I've ever experienced (and I drove for over half of it) - nine hours in blinding spring sunshine. France did look nice along the way though. The Grenoble gig was great, mainly due to being taken out for dinner before the show (must make leek tart when I get back) and the inclusion of a private beer pump in the dressing room. We're just about ready for tonight's show, my only worry being that the hotel here is of the same chain as the one in Paris. Thinking about it, I could do with a lie in.

I finally got out of the room via the window about an hour later than planned after the maintenance staff failed in there utilisation of the "hit repeatedly with a hammer" method of mending broken locks. Six hours later and we're in beautiful Grenoble at the foot of the alps and everything is hunky dory.

My means of exit from a Parisian hotel room.

Currently locked inside a room in a shitty hotel in Paris while two French idiots try to fix the broken lock. This may seriously affect our chances of getting to Grenoble in anywhere near good time. More to the point, I could do with some breakfast.

Thought we'd have a look at the sea before setting off for Paris.

Le Havre

A nice enough town. Ruby Throat are playing underneath a giant volcano so that's a good start. Chris' old Volvo is driving surprisingly well apart from the windscreen washer not working, so if you want to see where you're going you have to hope it either rains or doesn't, but not both on the same journey (rain good, spray bad). The gig took place in a very pleasant arts cafe style venue staffed by helpful young creatives and a top sound crew. Sadly it seems the whole complex is going to be turned into a public library on the whim of the local mayor, even though Le Havre already has several such places. Apparently the town will lose its only decent music venue in the process. Paris next...

Ruby Throat

After a long and tedious couple of months in London I'm finally heading off again, this time with the wonderful Ruby Throat (www.myspace.com/katiejanegarsiderubythroat) for a few shows in France. It's a bit more low-key this time - just three of us in an old banger, but I get a hotel room every night and hopefully some nice dinner. Here is the itinerary:

Feb 24 2009 8:00P	LE HAVRE - Cabaret electric	Le Havre
Feb 25 2009 8:00P	Glaz’art	Paris
Feb 26 2009 8:00P	Le ciel	Grenoble
Feb 27 2009 8:00P	l’antipode	Rennes
Feb 28 2009 8:00P	Chatodo	BLOIS
Mar 6 2009 8:00P	limoges	limoges
Mar 7 2009 8:00P	L’usine à Chapeaux	RAMBOUILLET
Mar 8 2009 8:00P	Le VIP	SAINT NAZAIRE
Mar 9 2009 8:00P	La luciole	ALENCON