Jean-Michel Jarre: the first time

In case you missed it, Jean-Michel Jarre was interviewed on BBC 6Music last Sunday. You can listen to him ruminate on the differences between French and German electronic music, and his memories of his first ever synth - the EMS VCS3 'Putney'.

>>Listen here (available until 4th November 2015)

I got the blues for Françoise

'Scuse me for possibly being a little bit fashionably late for the party, but I got violently ill at the weekend and, well, some things (like being violently ill*) are more important than blogging.

I've been rather enamoured of late by the new Ace Records Françoise Hardy compilation. which brings together her English language output between 1968 and 1972, a period when she worked a lot with Tommy Brown and Micky Jones (who also worked with Sylvie; and then as Johnny's backing band The Blackburds; and who have had honourable mention before here and here), and a time when rumours that she might work with Nick Drake, sadly never came to fruition.

You get 2 almost complete albums of post-psychedelic folk rock and Françoise charming your ears with her delicate, slightly hesitant English. Some fine sleevenotes from Mr Bob Stanley too!

You can (and should!) buy the CD direct from Ace Records for £11.50 inc. free delivery in the UK via the following link >> Francoise Hardy - Midnight Blues Paris London 1968-1972 (Ace Records)

Now, if only my mp3 files were accessible, I would post a song... but they ain't so I'm currently looking round for a more reliable host body. Watch this space.


*such things are not necessarily as much fun as, though they are often a lot more work than, blogging... Both can certainly be draining though.

Cactus versus Brezel

It will no doubt surprise you, dear reader, that my position in society as a music blogger/artist/musician/DJ/toy maker/father has not yet made me my millions. It is because of this that I, plus the good lady V and the little O, found myself in a Holiday Inn up there in up-and-come-and-pretty-much-gentrified Hoxton, East London.

Caught in a moment of pure glamour, we were awaiting the only working lift to reception, and as the doors slid open, who should we spy amidst the packed-in-like-sardines passengers? None other than our old friends Stereo Total (over from Berlin for one night only)...

[I wondered aloud if they always stayed at the Holiday Innn, but apparently they rather regret writing that song: "Next time we will write about a more upmarket hotel!"]

We checked out and found a café bar to pass the time until their flight, and they very kindly furnished me with a vinyl copy of their new LP Cactus versus Brezel. And then they were off, refreshed by breakfast, Guinness and rosé wine.

There was no sign of the fisticuffs promised by that title, but just supposing...

"LAYDEEZ AND GENTLE MEN, in the coin Français, on vocals, kazoo and banging the drums: FRRRRANÇOISE CACTUSSS!!!"

*DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A-DAGG-A*
"It doesn't pay to try, all the smart girls no why..."

Trust Françoise, she's a smart cookie and she knows.

She knows it makes good sense to take a rough pop diamond by smacked-up heartbreaker Johnny Thunders and to turn it into a dirty, shuddering, synthetic hymn to love, loss and empty arms.

*this is the sound of a filthy, dirty arpeggiator*so there*

Françoise Cactus - You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory

[only released on the 3-disc Girl Monster compilation (Chicks on Speed Records), which is out of print, but there are 2nd hand copies here]


"And in the Deutsche ecke, on guitars, synths, trautonium und neu!-ses:  
BRRRRREZEL GÖRRRING!!!!"

*BEEP*
"We can hear you coming through loud and clear on the answerphone."
*BEEP*
"No, you're breaking up. You're breaking up into a stuttering, electro cut-up xerox of an old Serge Gainsbourg Freggae number..."
"Is that you Françoise? Brezel? Just what is this bad news filtering in on the solar winds? Tell us, what news from way up there in the celestial heavens?"
...
"No, you're breaking up again..."
*BEEP*
---message terminated---

Brezel Göring - Bad News From The Stars

[originally released on the Brezel Göring/Barom One split LP (buy it from Gagarin Records); confusingly, a virtually identical version also came out on Stereo Total's Discotheque remixes album (buy); and then there's an alternate version, with our other friend Vice Cooler rapping over it on Hawnay Troof's sprawling double album Dollar and Deed (buy)]

Love Me, PLEASE LOVE ME

"C'mon bébé, love me, PLEASE LOVE ME..." moans Rita, as this slow-grind bass groove slips into gear.

Just listen to her breathy gasps and groans as the Hammond organist tickles her fancy. And I bet you're feeling a little uneasy when that guitar-lick freakout brings her to a steamy climax...

Oops! Sounds like she just broke it.

Oh! Rita! You always have to go too far.

Rita - Erotica

Coming up: more SEX

Sex = Science

My last post was titled "Sex Please, We're British". So, here's some more sex...

Sex = science, and Rita is in the lab, waiting to teach you your first lesson in 'Sexologie'.

 [image source]

Look! She chalked up a few diagrams on the blackboard, and she's firing up some mechanical sci-fi sex-funk music to get you in the learning mood.

Uh-Oh! She's getting carried away now, off comes the pristine white lab-coat, she's twirling it round and tossing it aside... Look at her go, gyrating like a go-go dancer from way down deep in the Valley of the Dolls... It's all gone a bit softcore, Vaseline on the lens and the windows are starting to get steamed up. What would the headmaster say if he walked in now?

Too late.

Anyone fancy a rewind?

Rita - Sexologie

[nb. this is not to be confused with the stunning sitar ass-shaker of the same name by Danyel Gérard]

Songs and Souvenirs of Serge

Jane Birkin performed in Glasgow on Saturday. And I couldn't go. Nah Nah! Not fair!

She was appearing at the Glasgow film festival backed by a band of handpicked Glasgow musicians singing a selection of Gainsbourg-penned numbers. Before the performance they screened a short doc titled Souvenirs of Serge.

"A rare glimpse into the personal life of Serge Gainsbourg by the woman who knew him best: his lover and creative collaborator, Jane Birkin.

Few figures in the history of popular music have left more of an enduring legacy than Serge Gainsbourg. Across a career that spanned three decades, Gainsbourg left his mark on jazz, pop, funk, rock, reggae and more, while becoming the greatest musical star France had ever seen.

Souvenirs of Serge reveals a different side to the man. Compiled from Super 8 footage taken on holiday with Serge and the kids in the 1970s, Birkin creates a unique and intimate portrait of her passionate love affair with this charismatic and conflicted man. Moving and painfully honest, Souvenirs of Serge is a small but total tribute to a beautiful, doomed relationship that would define both their lives forever."

This seems to have been the UK premiere for the film, and it has only shown at selected film festivals so far (blurb taken from the Melbourne International Film Festival site). There's scant info about it and I couldn't find even a teaser or trailer video out there on the internet...

Does anyone know if it will have an official release?

Someone who might know more is Mr Duglas T Stewart who spoke to Jane about her protection of Serge's legacy for the Scotsman. There's a real warmth and candour between the 2 of them in the interview which you can read here >>

L'Amour à la Chaîne pt.16

NEWSFLASH! That man in the shadows (Chaîne pt.15) was not The Hacker, it was The Invisible Man...

[image source]

L'Homme Invisible lurks in the bushes, late at night, outside the flats of unsuspecting batchelorettes:

*knock-knock-knock-knock*

----eerie voices whistle and wail and a stalking, slow-jazz rhythm strikes up----

femme: "Who is there?"

----silence----

*takes the latch off the door*

femme: "Who is there?"

*opens the door and looks outside*

femme: "Who is there?"

homme: "L'homme invisible"

----the sinister, brassy orchestration swells----

femme: "What do you want?"

homme: "You... YOU"

femme:  *gasps*

----eerie wailing and whistling continues----

femme: "No... NO!"

----invisible man ravishes woman soundtracked by a saucy, rasping trumpet----

femme: *gasps* *moans* *groans*

----invisible man leaves - a deathly silence hanging in the air----



So ladies, if it's getting late and you hear a faint knock-knock-knocking at your door, and you're not expecting visitors, turn the Dansette up, keep the lights on and just pretend you didn't hear...

[image source]

Andre Popp - L'Homme Invisible
[this was re-issued in 2001 on the Andre Popp collection Popp Musique on Tricatel. It's out of print but you may be able to pick up a 2nd hand copy from the usual haunts around the interweb]

...................................................................
L'Amour à la Chaîne: what will be the next link in the chain?
Leave your suggestions and reasons in the comments.
Jacques Dutronc - L'Amour à la Chaîne > Françoise Hardy - Je Changerais D'Avis > Les 5 Gentlemen – Cara-Lin > Add N To (X) – Monster Bobby > Serge Gainsbourg – Le Poinçonneur des Lilas > Les Shades – Orage Mécanique > Gillian Hills - Rentre Sans Moi > Zombie Zombie - Psychic Harmonia > Michel Polnareff - Qui a Tué Grand'Maman? > Christine Pilzer - L'Horloge De Grand-Père > Violaine - J'ai Des Problèmes Décidement > Dutronc - Dodecaphonie > Fabienne Delsol - Ce Jour La > Johnny Hallyday - Son Amour Pour Un Jeu > Miss Kittin & The Hacker - L'Homme Dans L'Ombre > Andre Popp - L'Homme Invisible > ?

French music on 6music

Lauren Laverne's 6music show is currently putting together their 'People's Playlist' feature for tomorrow. This week's theme is titled 'The Ooh La La list', and will be half an hour of listener selected music from French artistes. I've posted my 2 Francs-worth on the 6music facebook page, and you can also make suggestions on Twitter.

The People's Playlist will be broadcast tomorrow (Thursday 08 November) sometime between 10am and 1pm on BBC 6music. You can also listen again for 7 days via the iPlayer.

You may be wondering the reason for all of this sudden French-ness? It's in honour of French nouvelle-shoegaze lovelies Melody's Echo Chamber who were in session yesterday.

Here is a shimmering and woozy video of M.E.C for your delectation

------------------------------------------------
D’you know after all that talking it up, I was out when the show was on, and I’ve only just had a chance to listen to it.

Now it wasn’t all my, er, tasse de thé, but any radio station that plays Superman-Supercool by Jacky Chalard just after 10am on a Thursday morning will always always get the thumbs up from my little corner of the interweb.

The full tracklisting for an oh-so brief 30+ minutes of air time was
Jacky Chalard – Superman-Supercool
Sebastién Tellier - La Ritournelle (Mr Dans Magic Wand Remix)
MC Solaar – Nouveau Western
Stereolab – French Disko
Serge Gainsbourg – En Melody
Amadou & Mariam – Masiteladi
Daft Punk – Da Funk

Wot no yé-yé? Yeah I know. And they didn't play any of my suggestions either. *sulks*. I was just happy to hear some French music on le radio really, especially one of the Serge songs I nearly always DJ (mentions Sunderland, Lauren Laverne's home town, you know... Apparently Serge liked the romantic connotations of phonetic sound of it: "Son-de-lon". Let's presume he never actually went to Sunderland).

You can listen again until this Thursday morning on the iPlayer.

I found this, lurking in the shadows...

Darby left a comment requesting a song in relation to the last two L'Amour à la Chaîne posts...

As mentioned in those posts, Françoise Hardy recorded a version of the song Son Amour Pour Un Jeu in English under the title Strange Shadows (and this was more recently covered in a dreamy, mellotron-tinged version by Fabienne Delsol). Françoise also recorded her own French language version, L'Ombre. And this is what Darby has requested.

The recording has the same arrangement as Strange Shadows, and I'd be willing to bet the same instrumental backing was used for both, however the French version has just a little more yearning in the vocal, which just clinches it for me.

Françoise Hardy - L'Ombre

[this is taken from her 1970 album Soleil]

L'Amour à la Chaîne pt.14

Heeeeeeeeeeeere's JOHNNY! Hot on the heels of Chaîne no. 13, and making his London concert debut at the Royal Albert Hall this week, it's Johnny Hallyday.

Listen up! More multiple linkage coming your way >>>>>

link 1) The last post was Fabienne Delsol's sassy cover of Sylvie Vartan. As you should all know, Sylvie and Johnny were married in 1965 and were the "golden couple" of the yé-yé scene.

link 2) Sylvie's song Ce Jour La was written by Micky Jones and Georges Aber, whilst Johnny's is credited to G. Aber / M. Jones / T. Brown (the same Micky and Georges, with session drummer Tommy).

link 3) Micky Jones and Tommy Brown played in both Sylvie and Johnny's backing bands.

link 4) An English language version of the song Son Amour Pour Un Jeu was recorded by Françoise Hardy in 1969 as Strange Shadows. Fabienne Delsol made a version of Strange Shadows for her On My Mind album, which also features, you guessed it, Ce Jour La.

Managing to keep up? Good. Today's offering is Son Amour Pour Un Jeu, plucked from Johnny's imaginatively titled 1967 studio album Johnny 67 (Disque Philips no. B 70434 L). And let's just say it's almost a dead cert that Johnny won't be performing this one at the Royal Albert Hall...

pipe up Johnny!

Johnny Hallyday - Son Amour Pour Un Jeu

[you can buy this re-issued on Le Roi De France: 1966-1969 on RPM International]

...................................................................
L'Amour à la Chaîne: what will be the next link in the chain? Leave your suggestions and reasons in the comments.
Jacques Dutronc - L'Amour à la Chaîne > Françoise Hardy - Je Changerais D'Avis > Les 5 Gentlemen – Cara-Lin > Add N To (X) – Monster Bobby > Serge Gainsbourg – Le Poinçonneur des Lilas > Les Shades – Orage Mécanique > Gillian Hills - Rentre Sans Moi > Zombie Zombie - Psychic Harmonia > Michel Polnareff - Qui a Tué Grand'Maman? > Christine Pilzer - L'Horloge De Grand-Père > Violaine - J'ai Des Problèmes Décidement > Dutronc - Dodecaphonie > Fabienne Delsol - Ce Jour La > Johnny Hallyday - Son Amour Pour Un Jeu > ?

RED HOT POKER

Eeeee, I've got a right little belter for ya! Get ready to put on yr best poker face, here comes Larry Gréco?

[image source]

Larry's exhumed the tub-thumping ghost of Gene Krupa (who wasn't even dead at time of recording!) and roped in some raucous yackety-sax and bold-as brass to back him up, and he means BUSINESS!!!!!!!!!

Get yr dancing socks on, it's frug time!

Larry Gréco - Comme Au Poker

[again, you can buy this re-issued on the monumental Disques Motors 3-disc boxset]


Afterthought: I always thought this was a blinding cover of You've Got What I Want - a gutsy non-hit  by snotty 60s R&B combo The Sorrows' (watch a viciously vital live video here >>>). But a bit of rooting around suggests maybe not: Larry's version came out in 65, The Sorrows was released in 66 = You do the maths.

Bonjour Tristesse

Sam requested something darker and more melancholy, which goes completely against my current mood, but I do always try to oblige reader's requests (within reason!).

This is a dark and epic François de Roubaix instrumental from the 1968 Robert Enrico film Tante Zita. A film with death as its central theme - ah French films, never afraid to tackle the BIG themes!

I used to play this quite a lot at our sister night Tonight We Fly. It is so terribly melancholy, but in a beautifully fragile and uplifting way.

François de Roubaix - Tante Zita: Loin (version instrumentale)
[you can buy this re-issued on the monumental Disques Motors 3-disc boxset]


I have to say, based on all I've read about the film, I wasn't expecting the trailer to be quite so upbeat...

Ripping Vinyl - April March

I can't believe it's been nearly 4 months since I posted that ace early 60s Tienou 45! But I have finally made myself a little time to get some more vinyl ripped, and now I just need to find the time to post it. So if you enjoy this one, please do leave a comment and it will certainly encourage me to post some more...

Today we have a rare and tasty treat from April March: a 10" clear vinyl ep Dans les yeux d'April March, with Bertrand Burgalat on production duties, released in 1999 on French label Tricatel (the first release from their 'Tricatel Club' series).

Track 1 is a sparkling synth/lounge pop re-working of Chantal Goya’s delectable Mon Ange Gardien. This is a slightly different mix to the version you may have heard on All's Fair In Love and Chick Factor, with cleaner production and a little lighter on the reverb and effects.

April March - Mon Ange Gardien

Glucide is a purely instrumental mix of the song Sugar (the opener on her Chrominance Decoder album). Removing April’s (occasionally too cloyingly) sweet vocal has allowed Monsieur Burgalat’s retro-futurist production sensibilities to shine. The result: a sinister 70s synth-funk workout.

April March - Glucide

And first on Face B is Magic Ass: A raw'n'gutsy freakbeat-y number, with a cool sitar breakdown and a chorus which seems to go “Cos Johnny’s is a magic… I can tell by the way she walks”. I like to think it’s a reference to Jane Birkin’s character in the taboo Gainsbourg-directed film Je T’aime, Moi Non Plus. Magic Ass indeed!

Whoever Johnny is, the song is ace and I defy you not to get up and get down to it!

April March - Magic Ass

The final track is another instrumental (this time a version of Mignonette, also from Chrominance Decoder), and it would seem Burgalat’s intention here was to give April her very own Brigitte Bardot Show-style dance workout. Dance, April, dance!

April March - Ningette

[Dans Les Yeux d'April March has long been deleted, but there are 2nd hand copies out there if you are willing to pay good money, see Discogs.com or CDandLP.com.]

RIP Chris Marker

We were sad to hear news that Chris Marker has died at the age of 91.

Born Christian François Bouche-Villeneuve, Marker apparently took his professional name from the Magic Marker pen. His 1962 "essay film" La Jetée, is perhaps his most famous work: a 29 minute short made up of mostly still images depicting a near-future dytsopian love story seen through the eyes of a time traveller; the film was hugely influential and became the blueprint for Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys.

La Jetée is a favourite here at L'Amour Electronique HQ, and we showed it many times on our little TV back in the Penthouse days.



If you enjoyed that, another of our favourite Marker films is Sans Soleil, which is shot mainly in Japan, and features an EMS synthesiser which translates sound into visual imagery. You can watch that here.

VERY VERY BAD THINGS

Owing to huge popularity - nearly 230 downloads to date (Ahem, would be nice if some of those people would be good enough to leave a comment to say thank you...) - and by request of Monsieur Guuzbourg I've finally had time to post this other Ewa Swann track.

If you missed Le Couer Fou, a lilting, yet twisted piece of J-C Vannier lolita-pop, you can get it here.

Now, if Le Couer Fou is a chanson to wild, tragic love, I imagine this - the A-side - could only be the soundtrack to VERY VERY BAD THINGS happening

Take a listen for yourself, and don't have nightmares...

Ewa Swann - Pour Quelques Secondes

[There are no re-issues of this to my knowledge, but as stated previously, the vinyl 45 is currently going for a fairly handsome sum on cdandlp.com]

Tour de France

Bon chance to "mod cyclist" Bradley Wiggins who sets out today to be the first ever Brit to win the Tour de France. The French media have nick-named him "Le Gentleman" due to his sportsman-like behaviour (he slowed down during stage 14 to allow other riders, who had fallen victim to tacks scattered on the road, to catch up) and his modest, quiet demeanour. The fact that he speaks very good French has probably helped too!

[image source]

With the tradition for competitors not to challenge the leader on the final stage of the tour, victory is surely a fait accompli and he'll be whistling all the way to the Champs-Elysées...

Stereo Total - Tour De France

[buy this on Baby Ouh! by Stereo Total from the hanseplatte shop]

Whilst you're here, you may as well enjoy the original Kraftwerk version with new improved video visuals!

Oh so high

Yesterday, all eyes were on the London skyline as Europe's new "tallest building" The Shard was opened in a laser show that might have made Jean-Michel Jarre jealous...

...had Jean-Michel Jarre not been able to play his lasers, that is!

It doesn't actually look that tall in real life, and I can't say I'll be queuing up to pay 25 quid to see the view from the top.  No, this post is really just an excuse to give you some L'Amour Electronique friendly songs about tall buildings.

Serge Gainsbourg - New York USA

[Gainsbourg's New York USA was re-issued on Couleur Cafe and Comme Un Boomerang, both still available]

The Human League - Empire State Human

[you can buy Reproduction by The Human League from yr favourite online music emporium]

Francoise and the Man from Mars

Ask me what my favourite era of Françoise Hardy records is and I wouldn't hesitate for a second to say the mid- to late-60s. A time when the production values on her records went HUGE, the arrangements (by Charles Blackwell, Mickey Baker, Jacques Denjean, Johnny Harris, et al) were GRAND and the songs were unashamedly POP (see her London-based 60s TV special The Piccadilly Show for some Hardy evidence).

So when someone comes along and tells me that an album from 1971 is one of her best, I refuse to believe them.  This was the case with La Question, recommended to me by a few bods (in person, and in print).  I had to see what the fuss was all about so I downloaded it, stuck it on and did some work whilst it passed by like so much background noise.  I dragged it onto my i-affixed personal stereo and forgot about it until one day I needed something gentle to block out the sounds of the commuter train on the way home from work.

Then the magic happened...

La Question is much sparser than the baroque pop of her output throughout the 60s, but the high production values are still there albeit in a far more tempered and subtle form.  Orchestrated throughout with pared-down strings and intricately plucked Spanish guitar, Françoise's voice is pushed to the forefront, sounding intimate and confessional - it's almost as if she's leaning in close to your ear to confide in you, the listener.

Studio trickery is simple but effective, panning voice and instruments across the whole Stereo spectrum, with a light and airy reverb added to everything. The only bells and whistles are a bit of piano and organ, sleepy upright bass, plaintive whistling, and the desolate winds of the Martian tundra as manifested by the human voice in this song...

Please do yrself a favour and stick yr headphones round yr ears before listening. Do this and I promise you're in for a spine-tingling and majestic listening experience.

Françoise Hardy - Le Martien

[buy La Question from amazon.uk or allmusic]

a little bit o' Blue for the dads

I've just heard the new Sébastien Tellier album, or rather, I listened to his message (as he requests: "N’écoutez pas mon disque, écoutez mon message...").  On his new long-player, Monsieur Tellier seems to have swapped Sex for Religion, with maybe a bit of sex on the side (he sings of volcanoes, golden ladies, and a magical hurricane...). Or maybe Sex IS Religion?

The title of this latest opus is My God Is Blue, and Sébastien appears on the front, swathed in an azure glow, looking like the second coming of Jesus. Or possibly Dennis Wilson at his beardiest.

We find Sébastien adrift in a topographic ocean of the deepest blue, such is the expansive nature of My God Is Blue. The slick synth soundscapes of Sexuality have given way to great, big helpings of bombast: ecclesiastical choirs, fugual organs, prog-tastic arpeggiators, filmscore strings, and slick guitar histrionics.

In getting across his "message" he gifts us choral overtures, smooth mellotron confessionals, space-y disco musik (Cochon Ville), synth-rock operatics, pastoral folk with glass harmonica (Magical Hurricane), gently parping synthesized brass, and mournful piano. And Sébastien's voice drifts over it all, whispering sexual sweet-nothings in your ear.

Yes, like all great Frenchmen he takes his art seriously, but I also get the feeling Mr. Tellier had *whisper it* fun making this record. There are points when I've found myself almost laughing out loud at the brazen ludicrousness of some of the music: surely anyone who can follow the epic, Bolshevik-strings fuelled Russian Attractions with the syrup-y, lounge-soul of Mayday must have their tongue quite firmly lodged in their cheek?

In an era of quick fix mp3s and 2-second attention spans, you've surely got to have some balls to release an expansive concept album as ridiculous, pompous and brave as this. But that's just the way we like a Sébastien Tellier record.

[you can buy My God Is Blue direct from Record Makers]

We all scream for Ice Cream

Apparently it is National Ice Cream Week (28th May-3rd June 2012*).  I wonder if they asked Polnareff to take part, he did once claim to have been born in an ice cream - here he is, in his trademark sunglasses and naked as the day he was born (except for his grandma's hat)...

[image source]

Watch out for the bizarre pillaging of The Intro & The Outro by The Bonzo's in this epic from his everythingANDthekitchensink masterpiece Polnareff's.

Michel Polnareff - Né Dans Un Ice-Cream


I imagine, meanwhile, that on hearing of N.I.C.W., Ariane would have gotten herself all excited and danced around in a circle chanting "Ice Cream, Ice Cream, Moi je n'aime que l'ice cream" until she felt so queasy she couldn't stomach even the tiniest scoop of cold, creamy goodness**.

[image source: Bide & Musique]

Ariane - Ice Cream

[this was re-issued on Ultra Chicks vol. 1, if you can find a copy]

But isn't it strange how they both opted for the anglophone and not the francophone?


Here are a few of my favourite places to buy ice cream (in no particular order)

1. Fusciardi's, Eastbourne - try the 'Moonraker' sundae.
2. Marocco's, Hove - a multitude of homemade flavours, try the chilli chocolate or the boozy tiramisu.
3. Di Pola's, Hastings - possibly the softest gelato I've ever had the pleasure of eating.
4. Amorino, Paris - try as many flavours as you can fit in a cone and they will arrange them like the petals of a flower.
5. Berthillon, Paris - everything from Irish Coffee to Earl Grey Tea. A scoop of pear and a scoop of their ultra-rich chocolate works well.
6. Fennochio Glacier, Nice - over 50 flavours including some odd ones like Cactus, Black Olive, Tomato & Basil, Thyme.

*on closer inspection it seems to be very much a sponsored event, and not very 'National' at all
**does that sound dirty and wrong?