Last night, Thais (from Brazil, living in the Maunoury's other spare room, taking classes at the Sorbonne) and I took the metro to rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud for a show at Alimentation Generale. We laughed when we discovered in broken French and English that neither of us knew what kind of music would be performed. We knew was the address and that Eric Maunoury, the second son, would play percussion. When we'd paid our 3€ entry fee and said "bonsoir" to Eric and Gerhard Maunoury (Clovis), I realized my purse had seemed empty because I had forgotten to bring my little blue camera. Extremely disappointing, especially when Jools on Wheels let Eric do a fantastic solo on his base drum, large can, and old suitcase with a small cymbal lying on top.
The venue was the kind of hidden and slightly dirty place that attracts locals who appreciate music and are happy to enjoy it with the people around them, especially after a drink. As the night progressed and the general merriment increased, I realized there is some truth in the rumor that French people can't dance.

Drinking is different here.

People do not take pleasure in intoxication like most of my peers in the States. Perhaps many French are too dependent on alcohol, as Madame Maunoury suggested, drinking it in moderate amounts at lunch, the apéritif, dinner, and late in the evening. Even so, there is a sort of dignity they maintain which is lost when my American associates collect at the power-lines, bars, or houses and imbibe freely, reveling in the numb gaiety. I do not know if the high drinking age helps or hinders alcoholic responsibility in the States. It would be interesting to experiment. If the legal drinking age were 18 like it is in Brazil, or 16 like most of Europe,  would we become more sophisticated in our dealings with alcohol?