Saturday morning, I got ready and then made my way back to Eric, Brian & Val’s place. I was also texting Clem to figure out our plan for the day, since she had bought a day pass to the festival. Turns out, she also loves EDM music! Eventually, we decided it would be easiest to just meet at their Airbnb and go from there.
A short 30 minutes later, Clem arrived at the door. Seeing her after SIX years was the strangest feeling ever! I didn’t even know what to say, so I just ran up and gave her a huge hug. I introduced her to my crew, and they hit it off right away.
A quest to find shorts
Before going to the festival, there were a few stops we had to make. The outfit that I had planned for the day was a black tank top with black cargo pants. However, it was 90 degrees and sunny for the second day in a row. I knew I wasn’t going to last without some shorts. I also really needed a hat to better protect my face from the sun! Eric, Brian, and Val had gone to Carhartt the day before, so they suggested that I stop by there quickly. It was conveniently located about a 5 minute walk from their place, so that’s where we went.
I found a simple black bucket hat and then tried on several pairs of shorts. I really thought all of them looked weird on me, but I did not have the time or energy to look for the perfect pair. Clem told me that the one pair of long, denim shorts I had on looked good, so I just rolled with it. THANK GOODNESS I DID because it was scorching hot that day. I don’t even want to know how badly I would have felt in black pants.
Lunch with old & new friends
We were in a bit of a time crunch to get to the festival, but hadn’t eaten anything yet, so we went to a restaurant nearby. I ordered some breaded chicken dish, and it was amazing. I honestly think that anything would have tasted good, considering I hadn’t eaten anything since the lobster roll at lunch the day before and a pack of peanuts in my hotel room.
I was glad to have sat down with Clem so that we could catch up a bit. She had just returned from a solo trip to Indonesia, where she swam with whale sharks and slept on a boat! How adventurous is that?! I also learned that she goes to school in Bordeaux but has an internship in Paris. She also does a LOT of running and has some pretty impressive races under her belt. For example, about a year or two ago she ran a multi-stage ultramarathon in the deserts of Morocco.
We were saying that we have more in common now than we did in high school!
Cercle Festival – Day 2
We made it to the festival just in time to see the end of Kasablanca and Lane 8. Then, we hopped around to Kölsch, Étienne de Crécy, Michael Bibi, and then Vintage Culture. I hadn’t intended to go to Étienne de Crécy, but Clem really loved him, so of course we went! I was so glad that we stopped by because it was just my style of music. That’s one thing that I really love about the festival. There are a number of artists that I already know and love, and there are also a handful that I have never heard of! It’s a great way to explore new music.
VINTAGE CULTURE
As you can see in the timetable, 4-7pm ish was the most challenging time. There were so many people I wanted to see! DJ Tennis is one of my favorite DJs, but so are Vintage Culture and Kölsch. The crew made it over to vintage culture, and then we never left. That’s right — I didn’t even see DJ Tennis at all!
No regrets, though. Vintage Culture was my favorite set of the entire festival. We were dancing so hard, singing along, and having the best time. We also ran into Chris, Cheryl, Mark, Leti, Dustin, Marco, and Rosy, who were all on the Mexico trip with us. They were all currently on the Cercle Moment in Paris. It was fun to hear about everything that they had been doing: a party with LP Giobbi and Kölsch in the Eiffel Tower, a cruise along the Seine, etc. We also started talking about future events, such as the Cercle Festival in Cabo, Mexico this November. I hadn’t intended on going (and it sounds like others hadn’t either), but Marco & Rosy were very convincing. They said we could go whale watching… and if you know me, that is the key to my heart! I love whales!
It was fun to introduce Clem to my friends from the Mexico trip. My worlds were colliding, and it felt so good! Now, I just had to get Mark (my former PI) over to meet everyone, too.
We started talking about our plans for the rest of the night, when all of a sudden Eric goes, “Clara. Look at your WhatsApp messages”. My service had been spotty, so I just gave him a confused look. He showed me that we had been added to a groupchat called “Moment Afterparty Tonight”.
OH. MY. GOD.
Were we just invited to the Cercle Moment after party?!
Sure enough, there was a message from Lona saying that, since this was the last Cercle Moment ever, they would love to have a reunion at the afterparty from 12-4am. Anyone who had been on a moment before was invited and could bring a +1.
I was FREAKING OUT. The afterparty was at a place called Hôtel Le Marois, which is a luxurious mansion in the 8th arrondissement. The only problem was that I had +1 but two people that I would want to invite…
Obviously, I was going to ask Mark. This was the perfect opportunity for him to experience what the Moment felt like and meet almost all of the people that he would have been on the trip with!
My Cercle friends were quick to invite Clem as their +1, so problem solved. Whew!
I messaged Mark, and as I thought, he was excited to meet people. He did say that he would “likely depart well before 4am” though.
Private DJ event at Hôtel Le Marois
We left the festival early again so that we would have time to go back and change before the afterparty. It took a while to get an Uber because they kept canceling on us. We also had to walk like 2 miles to get to the meeting location. It was such a pain! Luckily, Clem could speak in French to the Uber driver on the phone. I truly think that is the only reason he didn’t cancel on us, too.
On the way home, Clem fell asleep in the car. When we arrived at the Airbnb, she made the tough decision to just go home for the night. Of course, I wanted her to stay, but I also totally understand how she would be exhausted. I mean, she had literally just gotten back from Indonesia a few days ago!
Unfortunately, there was not enough time for me to go back to my hotel and change, so I opted to stay sweaty and gross in my festival outfit. I was very pleased to rediscover my unworn, black cargo pants, though!
By about 12:30 am, we had arrived at Hôtel Le Marois. We stepped out of the Uber to find a man in a black suit, holding a guest list. All I could think was, “HOW is my name on a guest list to an exclusive after party… IN PARIS?!?!?!”. I also had to laugh that I was wearing literal trail running shoes, and my hair was in an unintentionally slicked-back bun caked with sweat.
Mark had arrived at the same time, so I met up with him before walking in. He was laughing, saying, “I cannot believe that I just said I’m here with Clara Droessler and got let into this party”. It sure does seem pretty backwards! He’s always been the one introducing me to his contacts, and he’s a PI and oncologist at Harvard for goodness’ sake.
Yet, somehow he’s the +1 to a 24 yr old grad student 😂
We walked in the front doors of the mansion, and I was completely blown away. I was smiling so hard that my cheeks hurt. I could not believe how elegant the place was! There were chandeliers, red carpet, painted ceilings, and gold trim everywhere. There was a huge central staircase that broke off into two separate staircases that wrap around to the next level. The next level featured two stunning rooms, with Ginton playing in one of them. There was also an open bar and servers walking around with hors d’oeuvres.
The second we made it up the stairs, I started running into everyone I know. I practically screamed when I saw Lily and James for the first time since last year, and was quick to introduce them to Mark. I also absolutely lost it when I saw David, my favorite Australian ever. For almost the entire first hour that I was there, I just kept running around the place, hugging my friends and asking them about their highlights from the year.
I was also fortunate enough to meet new people, too! I met a woman named Maha, who was on the Paris Moment. She told me she really liked my outfit, and I couldn’t hide my shock. Everyone else had been in glamorous dresses or at least a nice blouse and trousers. I guess black on black was a good move?!
Lily had also told me that she was proud of me for wearing my trail running shoes. When I told her that I wish I could have worn my short block heels, she said, “girl, we are NEVER doing that”. I love her 😂
Eventually, I settled down and danced with David to Ginton’s music, which is more of a Latin-house vibe. Before long, the set was over. I didn’t know what to expect next…
All of a sudden, I heard music coming from another room. I dragged David over there to find that Deer Jade was playing in the room next door! I couldn’t believe it. Deer Jade is SO GOOD!!! Within a matter of minutes, everyone had migrated to that room and was dancing. We danced, danced, danced into the early hours of the morning. I had been in the back for a while, but I eventually had the bright idea of moving up closer to the DJ. I brought Mark up there with me, and we danced with Deer Jade literally a foot or so in front of us. It felt like I was dreaming!
It was just past 4am, and Deer Jade was still playing. I was dancing with Neha, who was also on my Mexico trip and in town for Cercle Festival. Mark turned to me and said, “okay, now I really actually have to go”. I laughed, remembering when he said that he would not stay out until 4am.
At about 4:30, Marcelo (who is a Cercle Moment crew member and an incredible DJ) took over. His music has a deeper, darker vibe to it, which is just what I love. I could feel my body shutting down after dancing the entire day and night with no breaks, but I could not make myself stop.
The party ended at 5:30 am with about 20 of us still standing. Lona, Pierre, and Marcelo danced with all of us, and we took a nice, sweaty group photo. My clothes were absolutely soaked with sweat. Nobody cared. We just had the most exhilarating time of our lives.
Sunrise along La Seine
I hobbled out of the mansion to see the sun rising and hear the sound of birds chirping. Rather than taking an Uber back to my hotel, I decided that I might as well watch the sun rise over the Eiffel Tower. Eric and I sat along the Seine and did just that. It was so peaceful, and WOW was I hurting.
At about 6:30 am, I got an Uber back to my hotel, took a shower, and enjoyed a 2 hr nap. Then, I woke up and started getting ready for my third and final festival day.
Struggle lunch
As usual, the crew got together for lunch before heading to the festival. This time, we chose to stay in the courtyard of the Airbnb, where there was a nice restaurant with outdoor seating. We sat, hunched over and wincing, at the table and waited for our food. In the meantime, there was a group of girls who spent over an HOUR taking photos and videos of themselves. I think that this particular courtyard is famous for being in the show Emily in Paris. I had to laugh at the thought of the photos of these beautiful women, dressed up and posing in front of the restaurant, with a clear shot of Val and me in the background, fighting for our lives. Hopefully, they have good editing skills.
Cercle Festival – Day 3
We arrived at Day 3 of the festival just in time to finish Röyksopp’s set. I had intended to go to Deer Jade, but even the thought of dancing that hard made me want to fall over.
Dancing with David
While I was at the Röyksopp set, David texted me a photo of where he was at and asked me to join him. Of course, I wanted to spend more time with David, so I made my way over to where he was. The crowd was packed, so I was finding it difficult to locate him. A girl could tell that I was struggling and said, “hey, are you looking for your friends?!” We chatted for a few minutes. Turns out, she is from London. She said that if I come visit London, she will take me to the best raves. I had to smile. People are just so kind!
Eventually, I found David. He was excited to show me his new battery-powered fan, which featured a nozzle for spraying water onto yourself. He told me to remove my sunglasses and then sprayed my face. You would not believe how much it helped! From then on, any time I wanted to be cooled down, I would just look at him and take my sunglasses off.
When Röyksopp was over, we went to Ben Böhmer, who is one of my favorites of all time. We had seen him the first night in Mexico, and he was incredible. We stood behind the stage, where there was more shade. While we didn’t always have the best view, we were a lot closer to him than we would have been if we were in front of the stage.
David introduced me to his friend from boarding school, named Elisabeth. We all danced together for a while. At one point, I noticed her shoes, and I said, “Wow, I really love your shoes! The red on the bottom is so fun”. I hadn’t put two and two together (red bottoms = Christian Louboutins). David filled me in.
“They’re Christian Louboutins”, he said.
I laughed, thinking how silly I sounded to not recognize that DUH red bottoms = Louboutins. I think I was just thrown off by the fact that they were sneakers. I watch enough Tik Toks to recognize Louboutins when they are red-bottomed heels!
Then, David says, “Her husband is the CEO of Christian Louboutins”.
I replied with, “you’re shitting me”.
Turns out, her husband is, in fact, the CEO of Christian Louboutin. What is even more impressive, though, is that she runs her own festival in the Swiss Alps called Caprices.
Can you believe that?! Friend of a friend 😅
More fun!
The rest of the day went by in a flash. The crew and I went to Aaron Hibbel, Miss Monique, and Anetha for a while. I really loved Miss Monique’s set. She’s amazing! While we were there, we ran into Chris, Mark, Lily, and James again. I enjoyed dancing with them for a bit.
Before Eric Prydz’s set, I wanted to stop by Funk Tribu for a while. The crew and I went over and discovered it to be very high-energy music. I enjoyed it, but I could also feel the life being sucked out of me. I did not have much energy left!
Eric, Val, and Brian decided that they were going to head out. I, however, wanted to go back and see Eric Prydz. I figured that I would be able to find Lily, James, Mark, and other Mark, but by the time I returned, there were thousands of people there for the set. It was impossible.
Clara can’t hang
I stood and enjoyed the music for a while, but eventually the pain in my calves became so bad that I had to go sit down on the ground. I was disappointed to be missing the closing set of the festival, but I literally couldn’t take it anymore. I lifted up my pant leg to find a huge red rash with blisters. And, no, it was not a sunburn. I think I danced so hard that I got something called exercise-induced vasculitis, otherwise known as “Disney rash”. My ankles were about 3x the size they usually are, and it hurt to even stand. Of course, I started to worry, wondering if I would have to go to the doctor in a foreign country. So, I took advantage of the fact that there was an aid station at the festival.
I walked up the aid station, showed them my legs, and just said “it hurts”. A very attractive medic sat me down on the bench, gave me some ice, and asked some questions about what happened. I could feel a single tear rolling down my face. He reassured me that it would go away on its own, and that I didn’t have to do anything except rest.
On one hand, I felt kind of silly for going to a medic when there were people in much worse situations (for example, passed out on a stretcher). However, it was nice to be reassured. And honestly, the ice helped a lot too.
The best Uber driver
At the end of the set, I managed to find Mark. We debriefed the entire festival, naming our favorite sets and songs that were played. He really enjoyed the closer that Eric Prydz played, and I was happy that he had a great end to the festival. As we were walking towards the Ubers, he received a message from his that said something about “butchering”. He showed me the message and said, “I think something got messed up in translation here, but just to be safe… if I don’t make it back to Boston, tell my family I love them”.
Turns out, he never ended up taking that Uber anyway. He must’ve been canceled on, as always happens at the rush hour after the festival.
Lucky for me, I managed to find the best Uber driver ever. I was really struggling to get to the meeting point due to all of the annoying gates that were set up and blocking the path. I called him and said, “I am so sorry, but I don’t think I can make it there”. I was also in so much pain from my ankles that I couldn’t stand the thought of having to walk two miles to the other location.
Lucky for me, he said, “no worries, stay where you are and I will be right there”. He was able to use my location in the app to pick me up right where I was!
I got in the car and we went the ~1 hr back to my hotel. When he dropped me off, he apologized profusely for how long it took to get back. I was so shocked because, to me, this was normal. It rarely took less than an hour to get to and from the festival!
When I got back to my hotel, I ran some cold water over my ankles and put my feet up. Before long, I fell asleep with no real plans for the next day. I didn’t even set an alarm!
Stay tuned to find out how my Paris trip ended.
Until next time,
Clara