Métro Serenades

The subway system here is full of musicians of every type. You've got your guitars, accordions, violins, saxophones, you name it. And it can be quite nice sometimes when you've got a long way to walk between trains to hear some folk music or a few strains of Mozart. Of course, there's also the guy with the electric piano who's always at the Charles de Gaulle — Étoile stop singing "Feelings" or Elton John's "Sacrifice." (Or maybe it's "Candle in the Wind.") And then there are those times when a whole combo boards your train. Last weekend it was a trio with euphonium, trumpet, and clarinet, plus their accompaniment on a boombox, that jammed for three stops until they switched cars. Actually, my favorite musical moment so far was not on the subway but in the Place des Vosges where an entire string ensemble set up on the sidewalk and serenaded those of us in the park with Pachelbel's Canon, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and other classical chestnuts. Now that was a time when it was worth digging out the spare change!