Finding Jamaica in Paris at Hustler Corner

"As a visitor from New York, it is disorienting to be in a major international city like Paris and not hear reggae. While New York oozes Caribbean-ness, Paris gets its accents from Africa. Away from the city of lights popular tourist destinations, in neighborhoods like Chateau Rouge, Barbes-Rochencourt, Simplon, Stalingrad—and further out in the infamous suburbs like Evry—brown folks from Senegal, Algeria, Mali, Morocco and other former French colonies live and work. And, when no work is available, simply come outside to talk. The music of choice, vibrating from mini-cars and storefronts might be Ivorian coupe decale, Congolese Soukous, or Algerian Rai. If you’re hungry, the local boulangeries offer long orange-crusted baguettes and bitter shots of espresso coffee, each for less than a euro. Turning onto a side street, you’ll find  mostly small, narrow restaurants with hand-painted signs specializing in fare from Cote D’Ivoire, Mali and Martinique. Haitian spots are few, ongoing fallout from the epic war of liberation two centuries ago. Visiting Paris this past June, staying in Simplon, I was drawn in by the variety of tastes around me, each with its own historical raison d’etre. But after two weeks of raison d’etre,  I was having a case of curry tabanca. I needed roti and reggae."

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