Article dedicated to Daphne, who will no doubt recognize herself in the girl on the balcony…

She enchanted her neighbours, her street, her neighbourhood by playing guitar and singing from her balcony at night during the confinement. She started to share her videos on social networks and many people were able to follow the beautiful adventure, singing, humming, reveling with her, for a crossing of the confinement in songs and colors. She knew how to take us on board on wild music or Greek tunes (because she has origins there it seems). She gave us a few shivers and beautiful emotions on the songs on which we spent our adolescence. She undeniably marked the confinement of this small part of the neighbourhood, around Alesia in the XIVth arrondissement. On at least three occasions, she announced that it was her last evening on the balcony and then she came back. She said goodbye and came back again and again to our great pleasure. She had a great time editing with some old musician buddies. We rediscovered songs we loved from Supertramp, the Beatles… Neighbors across the street filmed it and posted the videos on social networks. So she gave us a little bit of space when we were confined.

And then we came out of lockdown. Life resumed its course with the limitations imposed by the pandemic. And on this 21st of June, for the music festival, the girl on the balcony extended an invitation to us. We immediately told ourselves that we wanted to go, because we wanted to see each other in person and because we wanted to hum with her. It’s different to go to a music festival during the Covid period, but it can be exhilarating. She gave us an appointment to meet her in the rue de Thermopyles, that little cobbled street, nestling near the rue d’Alesia, where it’s nice to walk, daydream, and contemplate the plants and flowers.

After a brief stop at the Thermopyles garden, where a karaoke takes place, it is in front of number 43 of the street that we find the girl with the balcony who has come down in the street. In this very early evening, only a spectator devours her with his eyes. He is sitting in the corner of a carriage entrance right in front of her, it is her husband. We settle down on the sidewalk and she invites us to draw a little piece of paper on which she has written all the repertoire she has planned to take us to another world and to have a great evening.

As always, she is cheerful, radiant and takes with her those who pass by here by chance. Here we are at 4, then 6, then 10 and quickly there are no more spectators scattered all along the street in respect of the gestures of prevention.

Faces appear at windows and balconies, some sipping a beer, others whistling and clapping their hands. The atmosphere is in full swing. The girl on the balcony who has come down to the street sets her audience on fire.

The first raindrops begin to fall and solutions are found. Still, for once the rain doesn’t make us want to run home. Thanks to the girl on the balcony, we forget about the rain and the wind.

It smells like wisteria and jasmine. The plants thrive in large potteries scattered along the street. Hydrangeas play with the green plants and bring a touch of colour. If you look up at the windows, bright pink and red geraniums sprinkle the street with other tones. There’s no doubt that it’s a real party in the Rue des Thermopyles.

The girl on the balcony has chosen a charming decor to make us experience a unique music festival. The street is full of life. A neighbour offers a chair by the window.

When the rain is in full swing, umbrellas come out everywhere to keep the party going. You regale us with songs by The Beatles, The Cure, then Renaud and finally it takes us to the ends of the earth with Charles Aznavour. A man is singing Renaud’s song from his window and his eyes are filled with emotion.

An Indian friend is called in visio so that he can discover the girl on the balcony and this is how the music festival, in the heart of the rue des Thermopyles, makes its entrance in India. Arjun’s sister connects on the call. His mother watches from behind. In spite of the monsoon raging in Kerala, at the same time as the Covid, our Indian friends find that the world is really beautiful. This shared evening, from a small paved and flowered street of the XIVth century, to a village of Wayanad, in the heart of Kerala, is a beautiful moment of emotions. In front of so much happiness, we also call Jean, our grandson, and he is delighted to discover the girl on the balcony. He claps his hands and shouts when the music stops « Babushka again, Babushka again », hoping that I have the power to make the girl on the balcony sing again. Thank you Daphne for giving us the opportunity to share these beautiful moments on this post-confinement 21st of June.

Par Nathalie

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)