I met the hunchback of Notre Dame in Paris
... and he wasn't very happy to be called a hunchback.
Alright, so the cat’s out of the bag. Our big secret Christmas party featured six actors who played six characters from French history.
They were: Ernest Hemingway, Saint Genevieve (the Patron Saint of Paris), Zelda Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Quasimodo, and Edith Piaf.
And let me tell you, Quasimodo was not impressed when I used the term hunchback. He was furious, actually. A misrepresentation! What did Victor Hugo know anyway!? Quasi’s back was apparently hunched from a backpack that he wore under his jacket.
These were the hijinks afoot as I led a walking tour for 35 people around the Pantheon, while these characters kept jumping out of the shadows and talking to us.
The goal for the audience was to figure out the answers to the questions I’d given them on a piece of paper. It was a real-time quiz through 1500 years of French history, and it all ended with an Edith Piaf singalong in a local bar.
This week on the podcast, I took listeners behind the scenes on this mammoth event (that was five years in the planning!). In the podcast (below) I included the audio from the Quasimodo section so you can feel you were there too.
A big shoutout to all the actors, who are named in this week’s blog post, which features 50 more wonderful photos from the evening.
Now, Patreon members of The Earful Tower can hear the full 30 minute audio from the night itself, and can even play along on the quiz. Here’s the link to sign up. If you’re already a member, here’s the direct link for the audio.
Our books are all sold out
This week I dropped off a box of our children's book, Kylie the Crocodile in Paris, to the English-language bookshop Smith and Sons. Big deal, you might be thinking.
But yes, it was a big deal. Because for the first time since 2020, we are totally sold out of all our books. In other words, Paris On Air, Kylie the Crocodile, Roger the Liger, Grace the Giraffe - ARE ALL GONE in Paris.
There’s a very unusual relationship you have with your own stock of self-published books. When stocks start to run low, you order more, and it becomes like a never-ending tide.
So it was very unusual for me to be perfectly content to see the last box go this week. But that’s because I’m going to stop pushing our books for a while, while I focus on writing the next two…
If you want any of our books, you can find them in pretty much all the English bookshops in Paris (if you’re quick), or, if you’re in the US or Australia, you can get them from our online shop right here. If you’re anywhere else on earth, you’ll have to wait for the next tide to come in :)
Annoying podcast ads
Did you know the average podcast has six minutes of adverts? At least, that’s what a podcast advertising representative told me this week. And do you know how many minutes of adverts are on The Earful Tower?
ZERO. Zero minutes. Zero seconds.
Ever since Covid when my sponsor disappeared overnight, I’ve relied on the listeners to be Patreon supporters and never even sniffed around for an actual sponsor.
If you appreciate The Earful Tower and enjoy not having to press “skip” for six minutes of audio, then perhaps you should gift yourself a Patreon membership for Christmas.
For $10 a month, which you can cancel at anytime, you’ll unlock a bunch of extras and allow me to keep doing what I’m doing. Who else is hiring six actors to bring 1500 years of French history to your ears? I don’t think there’s anyone. Help me keep it fresh, unique, and ambitious right here.
What does it feel like to be a member? I’ll give the final word to Laura B, who left the following comment on this week’s bonus Patreon-only podcast episode:
What fun! What fun! What fun! Why did the Earful Tower not exist when I was a student in Paris? Congratulations to all the actors - they were perfect; whoever wrote the script (Oliver Gee, who else?) deserves praise, too. The music - bravo! What a brilliant way to tour the hallowed, ancient streets around the Pantheon in the 5th arrondissement. You outdid yourself, Oliver! I learned something, too, since I didn’t know Cole Porter’s backstory. Nor could I remember the name of Esmeralda’s goat. Oh, the joy! The laughs! The fun that would have been! Perhaps, next time? You bring Paris to life like no one else. Félicitations.
What a lovely comment, from within a lovely community. Join here.
That’ll do for me. Keep an ear out on Monday for an episode based on something beginning with Y, followed by the Zeazon finale with a Z on Chriztmaz day.
Thanks for reading.
Oliver