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Suzy

Last night was by far the best of the week. Arriving early we went off to La Ruche where I wanted to watch my friend in a circus show. Ecole Atelier Shanju is a circus/horse riding/theatre school based in Ecublens, and they put on a fantastic spectacle at 4pm yesterday in the circus part of the Paleo. Juggling whilst standing on horses, drumming, balancing off hoops and acting, they pulled off an impressive show in the late afternoon heat.

We then went for a wander “to Brazil” where we finally came across the Amazonian Indian tribe selling jewelery and fried insects; I opted for a ring rather than a bug. We passed by the Plage for under 18 year olds and bought incredibly cheap soft drinks.

The next concert that we caught was the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève in the Chapiteau. We lay on the floor beside the tent, eating fajitas, noodles, empanadas and feijoada, and listening to the beautiful classical music. I have to say that I prefered the classical concert on the main stage last year, with more room to relax on the hill.

After catching some of Yael Naim‘s funky version of Britney Spear’s “Toxic” in the Chapiteau, we went to buy some beer and noodles before the fireworks. As usual, it was a great experience to stand in a muddy field with thousands of people watching the sky and listening to the tunes of the week blasting out through speakers.

At midnight, Lotta and I found a miracle at the Paleo. Fleeing from R.E.M. as I am not the biggest fan, we waited for the Gypsy Sound System at the Detour stage. Dj Olga and Dj Schnapps pulled off an hour and half of “electro-gypsy , ragga-klezmer, balkanic-fire, oriental-triphop, indian-drum-and-bass, spanish-rumba, popular-drunk-songs”. We danced, jumped, removed our boots, watched the dancers onstage, wondered how the rest of the Paleo could be missing such a concert and had an incredible time burning off the beer calories we had gained from the week.

We then went down to the FC Gingins bar were I made some new friends from England, did a few silly things to commemorate the end of Paleo, such as run up the side of the Bacardi tent and surf down, and get thrown into the fountain at the entrance. Sometimes, these kind of things just have to happen…

Carolyn

So the last night of Paleo has been and gone. Endeavouring to make the most of it, we headed up early on the little train so as not to miss out on anything. Venturing into the Ruche in the far corner of the festival, an area no doubt forgotten by many, I was amazed to discover such a great little area. For children at Paleo, the Ruche is their own corner of fun and excitement, and there seems to have been so many things I missed out on this week. Next year, next year.

Again venturing through the Village du Monde, and sweltering in the heat we sat and drank cold, icy drinks from the Plage, another fantastic place for younger people to hang out at the Paleo.

For the second time in the three years that I`ve been coming to Paleo I saw Dionysos play on the Grande Scene. Once again they put on an excellent performance, fun filled and energetic. Moving away to something more sedate, I lay by the Chapiteau with a friend listening to Yael Naim and just chilling out.

One thing I adore about the last night of Paleo is the fireworks: standing gazing in awe of the beautiful display, cosy, cuddled up and making appropriate “oo” and “ah” noises. Beautiful.

R.E.M concluded the line up for the Grande Scene, timeless tracks from over the years…many of which before I was even born! I recognised a few their bigger hits when they returned for their encore and despite being quite far back in the crowd, I could still see the large screens and flashy special effects.

So, Paleo 2008 is over. Smelly campers and exhaused party animals awaken bleery eyed to the disappointment that there will be no festival tonight. Still, only around 358 days till it all begins again.

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