8 hours in Paris... an adventure en vitesse!

When you think of being on tour, you probably think of spending days in beautiful cities around the world. This can be true, but generally, you're lucky if you get a very quick few hours en route to another place. Don't get me wrong, it's still more than most people get in their lifetime, but it makes it tough to really see places. You either have to plan your day down to the minute, or just wander aimlessly and enjoy your environment. I'm normally a trip planner, but we decided to do the latter this time.

Paris is one of our absolute favorite places in the world. It's where we honeymooned; it's where I first traveled internationally as a 13-year-old girl that sparked my wanderlust; it's where we are always hoping to stop through when we are touring in Europe. Fortunately, on our way between festival shows in Dinkelsbuhl, Germany and St. Nolff (in the Bretagne region on the Western coast of France), Paris was a logical place to take a quick rest and have a bite to eat.

We love to hit museums and cultural spots, but when you have less than half a day to enjoy a city, museums and busy tourist spots can be impossible, especially on a weekend. As you will see on every trip site for Paris, it would take you 100 days to see everything in the Louvre if you looked at every piece for only 30 seconds for 8-hours-a-day! And who wants to be rushed.  

So we arrived in Paris around noon, hopped off the tour bus at a centrally located hotel, freshened up, and put on our walking shoes.

If you have less than a day, I recommend focusing on a few neighborhoods you know you want to wander in. Paris is incredibly spread out into "arrondissements", each with their own character. Our favorite area to wander is Le Marais.

Galettes were first on our priority list, so we hit the charming, quaint, and perfectly Parisian Chez Imogene for both savory and sweet crepes, some midday wine, and espresso.

All filled up, we then proceeded to walk 9 miles, yes, NINE, around the 10th, 3rd, 11th, and 5th arrondissements. We didn't have many stops in mind, just the joy of a Parisian stroll.

Paris is covered in graffiti and street art. It's pretty much forbidden in our hometown of Orlando, Florida, so when we see expressively covered walls, we love to take a moment to take it in. It isn't the Louvre, but it has its place just as the Mona Lisa does.

Paolo, Matthew, and I are coffee junkies, so off to Ten Belles we went for another round of caffeine to fuel our walk. Ten Belles is tiny and charming with a beautifully appointed interior. As a designer and a dabbler in the lettering arts, a solid chalkboard menu just gets my heart going.

It was packed to the brim, so we didn't stay, but we got our iced coffee to go (iced coffee seems difficult to find in Europe!) We then spent some time browsing in the Artazart Bookstore, an incredible spot filled with every kind of creative book and knick knack imaginable. I was definitely in my happy place.

My next stop had to be Mariage Freres. I'm a tea junkie and I love the beautiful packaging and the historical legacy of the 150+ year old tea shop. I bought a few teas for home and for my mother-in-law. While passing through the MF, I spotted my dream bathtub! If anyone sees one of these lying around for less than $4k, give me a holler.

We also strolled past this guy. I don't know his story, but he seemed extraordinarily happy, and I loved his wacky steampunk bike.

Something I have to note about Paris is the beautiful attention to typography. I took a few snaps of lettering to use as inspiration for some of my lettering practice. The lettering on "la compagnie des perles" is one of my favorite styles.

While walking, we passed the Centre Pompidou, one of my top contemporary art museums in the world. We thought about breaking our stroll to hit the museum, but again, the line was about an hour to get inside, and with such a short trip, it wasn't in the cards this time. We then strolled to what turned out to be an incorrect address for a Laduree location. But it wasn't meant to be as it was time to cab back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of our group to grab dinner all together. "Family Dinner" is a tradition we try to keep alive on tour, a moment to get everyone together to eat, relax, and take a tour breather together.

We passed the Notre Dame Cathedral on our dinner walk, but the line was much too long to stand in, and many of us had already been inside on other trips. Time is the theme here! When you have very few hours to spend, waiting in a line isn't the way to go. But nevertheless, it's always a beautiful piece of architecture to admire.

It was incredibly challenging to find a French restaurant large enough to hold our group of 12, that would have food to please the whole group, and all of this on a Saturday night. Thankfully, we had Parisian friends help us find just the spot and make the reservation for us. The charming Le Petit Chatelet on the left bank. Dinner was incredible. A bottle (or two) of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, escargot, and Steak au Poivre. Classically French, and always perfect if you had to choose just one dinner in Paris.

Sadly, the night was coming to an end. But on our walk back to the hotel, we ran into two Trivium fans (on different streets!) who managed to spot the guys which is always humbling and a great reminder of why we are on these fantastic trips to begin with.

A rare night on tour where we actually sleep in a hotel and not on a tour bus, we headed back to our rooms for a good night of sleep before waking up early to hit the final festival show before heading home.

Chez Imogene
25 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud
75011 Paris, France

Ten Belles
10 Rue de la Grange aux Belles
75010 Paris, France

Artazart
83 Quai de Valmy
75010 Paris, France

Le Petit Chatelet
39 Rue de la Bûcherie
75005 Paris, France

Our Tokyo Adventure in 72 hours

We got off the bullet train from Osaka, squeezed ourselves into a tiny cab, and made our way through midday Tokyo traffic. We were exhausted, but ready to walk the streets of our favorite neighborhood, Shibuya, in Tokyo.

Shibuya is full of energy. It's like the Times Square of Tokyo. Bright lights, cute kids, full streets all hours of the day and night. We love to just walk and people watch, stumble through a street arcade, grab a bite of food, then keep walking. We love the beautiful izakaya shops tucked into 3rd and 4th floors stacked on top of each other, hundreds of places to eat on one street.

Another neighborhood we love to adventure through is Harajuku. We take a back walking path from Shibuya that is pedestrian-only. We walked past vintage shops, unique stores, and some of Japan's hippest kids. At the end of the path, we always make our way to Kiddyland. 5 stories of toys and more toys.

Another one of our favorite spots to stop and eat is Harajukugyozaru - a happy little place that pretty much serves only gyoza and beer. All you really need after a long walk in chilly weather.

A new find on this trip through Harajuki was amazing coffee at Nozy Coffee/The Roastery (see previous post!)

We also spend a lot of time wandering through music stores in Japan because they've become a relic of the past in America (and maybe everywhere else in the world?) The joy of shopping for physical albums and magazines is still alive and well in Japan. Appreciation for album art, having something to hold in your hand from the band you love, is something we miss. While browsing through Burrrn! Magazine in a Tower Records, we stumbled across Matt's monthly column which included photos from Metal+Honey!

Breakfast is hard to find in Japan, and we are breakfast junkies. It's not a meal that is eaten out often, especially before work, unless you're still drunk and out from the night before and you grab some quick ramen before pulling yourself together to get to the office -- cue salaryman jokes. By day 5-6, we couldn't eat anymore ramen breakfasts, or granola bars brought from home in the hotel, and ventured out to find where the expats go. We knew that surely Americans living in Tokyo had found places to go out and get an omelet. After winding through some backstreets, we found the charming Good Honest Grub.

Benedicts, omelets, smoothies, and breakfast potatoes -- just what we were missing from home. 

In anticipation of the big Knotfest show, we moved on our final vacation day in Tokyo across town to the quieter Minato district to a famous old hotel that is known for hosting celebrities and diplomats, Hotel Okura. It was fun to stay somewhere with a lot of history, majestic lobbies, and a sense of old (1970s?) Japan. There's something enjoyable about places that are traditionally fancy (and expensive), but haven't been redecorated in decades.

Complimentary kimono robe and slippers? Don't mind if I do.

And finally, the event we had been waiting for. Robot Restaurant for some glitter, fake boobs, and sensory overload in the finest sense of the phrase. And it was glorious. 

We've posted a lot of honey to date. But here's to the metal side.

Sadly, I am not able to make it out on the European festival run due to obligations at home, but updates from Matt are coming in daily. Here he is hard at work at Germany's Rock am Ring and Rock im Park over the last two days. Just a couple of people hanging out! 

European festivals are amazing. There are few places in the US where this many (or even close to this many) people come together for music. An incredible sight!

When was the last time you traveled far and wide in the name of music? 

The Return Of The Kiichi-Kun III (as published in Burrn magazine)

The Return Of Kiichi-kun III

In our epic conclusion to the trio that is "The Return Of Kiichi-kun III," Ashely and I were finally able to venture into Tokyo and begin our exploration of all things Japan.

The first expedition found us wandering the back streets of Shibuya to head towards Harajuku. At first, we felt as if we were completely lost, attempting to utilize my phone maps (which for a USA phone in Japan, it doesn't quite work right). Eventually we found the shops getting cooler, the food stalls becoming far more interesting looking. We popped in and out of punk-clothing shops, a baby clothes store that featured graffiti-style printed clothes for toddlers, some thrift shops, then gradually made our way towards Kiddy Land; the king of all toy stores. I've hit Kiddy Land each time in Japan, collecting my Final Fantasy toys, but this time they had none! We stocked up on omiyage for our friends and family, then went for food.

This trip was mainly about food, so I'll be sure to summarize the choicest eats: 

Harajuku Gyozalo was lunch; and man, lemme tell ya, gyoza is one of my favorite things on earth. Meat stored in little packets of carbohydrate-y goodness is always what I have a craving for. Needless to say, this legendary gyoza shack was amazing. 

Shabuzen was dinner. We reunited with Koji from Roadrunner to sit back and chow down on all things meat. My okasan would always make sukiyaki at home, but I've never tried it in Japan; my goodness was this place good. Shabuzen was Ashley's favorite meal of the whole trip; this restaurant is the spot where Bill Murray and Scarlet J. had their fight in "Lost In Translation."

The following day found us traveling as a duo towards Asakusa to wander the shops and eat fresh senbei. A good friend of mine - Ken Sakurada - who owns Shin Sushi in Orlando (sushi as good as Japan basically) told me to meet up with his friend who works at Yoshikami, Azuma-san.

Yoshikami for me was one of the truly most unique things I've ever eaten. Yoshikami's food reflects the American soldier's description of the diner in Japan; it's basically the Japanese interpretation of what the American diner is, but utilizing a Japanese spin on it all. Omme-rice and pork cutlets were our lunch, along with some ice cream for desert, and for me it was a wonderfully unique experience. Omme-rice is something my okasan would always make for me for breakfast.

After our lunch, we grabbed the train to Ueno park and the Tokyo art museum. It was a Japanese cultural tour that inspired "Shogun," and this time around the limitless sea of inspiration I found within the museum will certainly be seen throughout many musical things I create next in Trivium and Mrityu. Spanning from ancient triptychs that could be new tattoos for me, to busts of ancient demons and goddesses who could be referenced in song, wandering the halls of the art museum in Tokyo was fuel to the creativity that I always long for.

Ashley had a step-tracker wrist band that she had on for the day, when we finally got back to our room after our day of sightseeing, it said we logged 10 miles!

I Love Meat was our dinner pick for the night: Yaki niku; always a crowd pleaser. We had multiple cuts of beef here, unfortunately we had no Japanese speaking friend with us, so it was a lot of pointing at images of cartoon cows to figure out the cuts of what we were eating.

Afterwords, we hit Ishinohana for a Pisco Sour and something fancy I can't recall the name of that Ash guzzled down. Ishonohana was a seriously fancy little joint for cocktails. The waiters were dressed in the prohibition-era style that is so popular in America; these guys sure had their craft down. Watching the bartenders here is watching artists at work.

Our final day saw tempura udon for breakfast, followed by a trek into Loft (for cute omiyage), Mandarake (to browse some anime comics), Blitz (for a metal T shirt or two), a panchinko arcade, then some photo booths that turn everyone into giant-eyed anime-girls. Yes - I did this as well. Lunch? More ramen and gyoza!!

For dinner, we found ourselves at an all chicken restaurant called Toriyoshi that we had with Koji-san. We had: Kirin, a thick chicken soup, a salad featuring chicken, a thick and rich oden with all parts of the chicken, yaki-tori chicken parts, oyaku-donburi, then even more chicken in the form of tempura. Holy chicken, Batman! It was a delicious final meal with our beloved pal Koji.

The morning of our flight, naturally - I wanted ramen again, but Ashley said she was “ramen-ed out”. My favorite breakfast is the Japanese breakfast (rice, salmon, miso soup, and tea), Ashley’s - the French breakfast (croque madame and cafe’ au lait). Lo and behold in all it’s combined splendor, we found the best of both worlds, we found a Japanese/French bakery. We had matcha croissants and scones; crossaints with cheese; a hotdog-stuffed pastry of some sort; and another cheesy roll. Ashley was a very happy Francophile. 

Unfortunately for us, it was time to fly back home; Ashley was to get back to her job as Creative Director at a local creative agency, and it was time for me to get back on tour again in North America, melting the faces of countless metalheads around the USA and Canada. 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Japan is the greatest place on Earth.

The Return Of The Kiichi-Kun II (as published in Burrn magazine)

The Return Of The Kiichi-kun II

It was a short van ride to Saitama from the Tokyu Excel for Loud Park; when we finally arrived, we all grabbed our bags and stage clothes and headed to the dressing rooms. 

Like pretty much everything else in this country, Japan really has the dressing room situation figured out; not only figured out, but basically has all things hospitality, nailed down better than any other country could even fathom. Each band has their own large private space, a decent rider in their room, temperature controls for your room (you’d be surprised how rare this feature is typically), a clean bathroom and showers nearby (a rarity in some countries to even have a shower or toilet), world-class catering (with Japanese food), and really pro backstage crew (including stage crew, caterers, hospitality, security, press, etc.). Japan, just like in everything else, does the backstage world better than anyone else.

To preserve my voice pre-show, I usually limit myself from little to no press before a show, but today there were a couple big bits, like a cross-talk interview with Baby Metal! It really is astounding to see a band so young, not only playing metal, but playing metal to thousands and thousands of people already. I felt a linking parallel to the band in that I joined Trivium when I was 12 as well; it’s just that they’re playing to way more people than I did initially. My first several years of shows never saw more than 15-50 people at a time.  

After a bit of press, we each warmed up in our usual fashion. My warm up routine is as follows: 4 hours before show, I need to be sure to cut off any and all food; 2 hours before is when I start to warm up guitar (utilizing selected warm ups from John Petrucci’s “Rock Discipline”); 1 and a half hours before show, I warm up my voice with Melissa Cross’s vocal warm ups (first baritone, then tenor); an hour before set, I stretch using my yoga mat, using selected stretches from the Ashtanga yoga series; 30 minutes before set, I change into my stage gear, put in my in-ears; then 15 before set, I make sure I’m by the stage, ready to rock. 

The show this time around in Tokyo truly was not only the best Japanese show of Trivium’s career, but one of the greatest shows of our career. The entire crowd knew every single word, knew every part to jump, mosh, clap, or circle pit. The circle pit we saw in the arena was so big, spanning so many barricades, that it created a giant “heart-shaped” circle pit in the crowd. We played rather early that day for such a massive audience, roughly some time around 2:00pm. I heard that our crowd was the most insane of the entire festival, and that’s always a good feeling.  

After the show, we had a large batch of press to take care of; everything we did was performed by some of the best press people in the industry. I even was interviewed by one of my favorite bands on the planet: Sigh; Japan’s best black metal band.  

When everything wrapped up, the entire Trivium band and crew headed back to the hotel, and then to Jyanka for yaki niku. Each of us loaded up on Suntory Premium Malts and meat. We started with Korean-style pickles, various cuts of impeccably delectable beef, a couple vegetables (for good measure), into beef with ground wasabi, more meat, cow stomach, even more meat, then a few sweets for everyone to share. Yaki niku is one of my favorites to chow down on in Japan; it encourages sharing, it encourages everyone to partake of the same thing, so each can really enjoy the same experience together; that’s my favorite way to eat. 

Needless to say, we celebrated the perfect show in the best way possible. 

The following morning, we assembled the entire team for one final meal out together; we hit Kamakura as a group since it was the only thing open that early in the morning for breakfast. I had my usual ramen, gyudon, gyoza, oni-giri breakfast. We all walked back to the hotel where Ashley and I said our farewells to 3/4’s of the Trivium band and our entire crew, it was now finally vacation time in Tokyo.