I was screwing around online last night. Mostly watching music videos from the 80s and 90s. Then I watched a Springsteen video (an early 80s live version of Thunder Road). Off to the side in the you might also like column was a clip of Simon and Garfunkel Live in Central Park. I hadn't thought about that concert in forever.
The Simon and Garfunkel concert in Central Park was my my second concert. The first was Sha Na Na. I was a fan of their show and my parents took me when they had a concert nearby. For the Simon and Garfunkel show, I was 10 with older brothers and they brought me. We got to Central Park in the late afternoon. There were so many people there we couldn't see the stage, but we could hear the concert. So on a warm September night, me, my two brothers, my brother's friend and an estimated 500,000 other people listed to Simon and Garfunkel. It was pretty cool.
Years later, as a senior in high school, I was part of an exchange program with a school in France. One evening in a small town outside of Nimes, I was in the house of one of the French students that was also participating in the program. While we were talking before dinner, they were playing the album of the Simon and Garfunkel concert in Central Park. They listened to the concert regularly. In my best French, I told the story of being at the park for the concert. It was fun connection point to have with the family.
Part of the dinner at that house was the most amazing fondue I've ever had. Everything about it was amazing. The bread. I'll never know what cheeses where in the mix. Even if I did, I probably couldn't get them in the US. As the fondue got down to the last few tablespoons or so, they added something - a little local wine or maybe a liquor - and stirred it all up. That bite...that was the best bite of fondue I will probably ever have.
