|
|
"EUROBLOG #5 - PARIS" By ANDREW PALOCHKO - 10/25/06 There’s a lot of traffic in Paris. That was the first thing we found out about the city after our bus driver ended up on the wrong side of the city. We got to our hotel Wednesday night, checked in, had dinner, and went to bed. We knew this was going to be a long weekend.
The decision was made at the last minute to go with a dirt racing surface. This brought about a lot of changes in the show format and personally also. I woke up Thursday morning and went to the building to wrench on Grave Digger for the weekend and after lunch I was told I’d tech the rest of the weekend and our UK friend Trevor Stimson would fill my place with Digger. The last minute change didn’t bother me one bit as this is the pace of the European tour. Some of the crew guys even helped us hang the racing lights that night because we were staying late to get things done. We’ve all been helping each other (yes, even more so than in the states) to make sure that the job gets done and that the people get a good show.
Poster for the Monster Jam in Paris.
There were a lot of challenges this weekend. It was the first Monster Jam inside Bercy, which is the entertainment Mecca of Europe. I think this has been the hardest stop so far in finding English speaking help. Most of the building staff – spotlight operators, security, etc. – spoke little or no English. Despite the challenges we got the job done and gave Paris four great shows.
Bercy from the outside.
The track from above.
Repairing the Batman body! Dan Evans rolled over during Saturday night's show.
Monster Jam participants wave goodbye at the end of the show.
Load-up Sunday night.
Thursday night our European tour manager Robert Black arranged a bus tour of the city. That allowed us to see a lot more sights than we would have on our own. Paris is known as the City of Light and for good reason. The lights illuminated beautiful architecture including the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the final stop…the Eiffel Tower. We’ve been fortunate to have had time at each stop on the tour to play tourist and take in some of the world’s most storied landmarks.
The City of Light at night.
The Eiffel Tower.
Thanks to our new European friend MadRat, this is the second week in a row that I’ve left the food review out of the blog. There’s not that much new to report on the food front, anyway.
Monday morning we all took cabs to the airport for the much anticipated trip home. Most of us had been in Europe for almost a month and we were looking forward to a week and a half to catch our breath before flying back over to invade Portugal for the first time.
- Andrew Palochko Email Andrew and let him know what you thought!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
