Paris is never quiet, but Rock en Seine gave it a whole new rhythm. Since 2003, Rock en Seine has staged everyone from The Cure to Radiohead on the lawns of Saint-Cloud. It’s one of the few festivals where the lineup and the city compete for your attention. The metro, the cafés, the streets all started to feel like it was part of the score.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
TUESDAY + WEDNESDAY
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
When planning to do a five-day festival, you MUST play the long game. My pal Sarah Rechbauer joined me at our flat for the week, which was located in Oberkampf. We started off every morning with Maité Movement, which is an incredible on-demand platform based in Vienna for pilates, yoga, and more. Stretching is KEY when you are standing on your feet for hours every day, which we planned to do at the festival.
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
I was even able to shop for meat from a local boucherie nearby called BIDOCHE to make bone broth. This place actually doubles as a very small and romantic restaurant in the back. What better way to feel like you know what you’re eating than choosing it yourself and watching someone cook it for you.
The festival is a quick metro ride from the city centre. Navigating the grounds when you arrive is also super simple using the festival app to see where exactly your favourite artists are playing. When I arrived at the festival, it was already packed, and we were delighted to see the ethereal London Grammar.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
With a 40,000-person capacity, you still feel like you have space to enjoy the show while feeling the intimacy of the crowd.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
Chappel Roan’s live vocals were AMAZING, and the stage production felt like a glimpse into her tour world, every detail intentional, every dramatic detail part of her story.
Thursday
The next day we recovered horizontally and slooooowly; reading in my favourite park, Place des Vosges, post caffeine drip at Cafe De La Poste. This combination is perfect for Parisian people and dog watching.
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
Full of inspiration from the fashion of Day 1, we decided we needed some new fits. I usually pop into Chez Bunny when in Paris, but fell into a new spot called Le Petite Chineuse and couldn’t resist this floral dress. Thank You Hannah & Jo for curating this vibrant store and the wonderful addition to anyone’s Paris vintage circuit.
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
Thursday eve
By Thursday, the crowd was fully alive, each outfit more stylish than the last. I swear I got whiplash from trying to take in all the beautiful humans.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
I paired my polkadot dress with my mom’s vintage fish bag from Toronto, a gift from my father on one of their dates in the ’80s. They are the reason I fell in love with rock n roll, and I’ll never stop raiding my mom’s collection of vintage Patti Boyd-inspired hand-me-downs.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
Between sets, we wandered the food market, grazing on festival bites while catching karaoke in the Tranavia tent. I almost volunteered to sing my karaoke classic Zombie by the Cranberries, but I decided to let the people enjoy their day.
The festival programming beyond the music was seamless, and there was always something happening, allowing you to feel entertained or relaxed at every moment.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
Montell Fish and his band played at the Revolute Stage,and they were all extremely sexy and had so much atmosphere. At one point, when he jumped into the crowd, everyone screamed for all the right reasons.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
Noor was on the emerging artists stage, and she had such effortless, feminine, hypnotic energy. I wasn’t aware of her before the festival, and I’m so happy I got to see her live. The emerging stage is such a fantastic way to see new artists play in between headliners.
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
Mk Gee turned the Revolut Stage into pure electricity: with that kitted-out Fender. Zack Sekoff’s energetic drumming and Andrew Aged closed eye solos. These are the kind of moments that remind you why nothing compares to actually experiencing live music
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
By the time Khruangbin closed, it felt like we’d been taken on the full festival journey, and it was time to go home!
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
friday
Friday afternoon I finally got to pop by French jewelry designer Ylan Gravel show room and studio to see his collection RAW. Ylang Ravel is a French local, born in Saint Cloud in the 90’s and raised between Paris, le Luberon, and Saint Barth, trained in the Cartier ateliers in Paris.
Photo Credit Ylan Gravel Team
The festival favourites for me on Friday were, of course, Caribou, Floating Point, Max Baby, and Paris’s very own Kids Return.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
We made it back into town for a delicious dinner at Serpent a Plume followed by a quick boogie downstairs.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
saturday
Kids Return proved why they’re the city’s rising stars, delivering a set that was both nostalgic and fresh, equal parts indie romance and Parisian cool. We caught up with Adrien Rozé and Clément Savoye from Kids Return on in one of their local bars, Claire De Lune, on Saturday afternoon.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
Please stop by this iconic bar if only to meet the man behind the bar Jeffers.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
They pulled up so friendly and stylish and it’s not hard to see why these two are charming to everyone. They are two best friends who grew up in Paris and released their album 1997 in April of this year. I spoke to them before they were heading on a European tour for the rest of the year.
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
We walked with them to their recording studio, which was gorgeous and included a framed, signed photo of Celine Dion.
(Oh Canada)
I asked them where the best place to get a glass of wine, read all day in the park and kiss someone you have a crush on in Paris.
Their answers:
“Spend a day at the Le Parc des Buttes-Chaumont to read (and kiss)”
“Wine at L’Orillon”
“Dinner at Le Barratin”
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
Photo Credit Sarah Rechbauer
Saturday (on the canal)
I spent the evening along the Canal St Martin catching up with my friend who flew in to see Fontaines + Kneecap.If you can make it to Early June prior to sitting at the canal and put your name down this is the perfect place to sit and wait for your lucky phone call that your table is ready.
Photo Credit WF
After dinner, we went to the festival to see the incredible Justice play and more people watching. These girls brought their own cups with monogrammed stitched sleeves to the festival.
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
Sunday
The best show of the festival for me was Irish hip hop trio Kneecap.
As the proud daughter of a Limerick man and having lived in Dublin I’m biased, but watching these guys rap in Irish did something to this girl I didn’t expect. It was rebellious, hot, funny, sharp and chaotic. It felt like punk was reborn through hip hop.
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
The whole crowd was screaming along to lyrics most of them didn’t even understand. Then the lads had us cheering for fellow Irish band The Mary Wallopers. Earlier that weekend, The Mary Wallopers’ set had been cut short at the Victorious Festival, after they came on stage with a Palestinian flag. In solidarity, The Academic (along with others like The Last Dinner Party and Cliffords) withdrew from the festival, explaining they couldn’t perform at an event that silences free expression.
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
Photo Credit Sinead McInerney
Despite what I had heard reported from other media outlets this set felt very safe to watch, thankfully Rock En Seine did not fall under pressure and censor these lads or withdraw their invite. The lads actually encouraged everyone to lead with love and not to choose violence throughout their set.
Photo Credit Olivier Hoffschir
Following Kneecap, we sprinted to the Grande Stage for Fontaines D.C. Their set was all grit and poetry and also actively called out the injustice happening in the world. There was no performance of politics, no pretending at sainthood, no distance between the band and the crowd. It felt like Dublin as I had experienced it: chaotic, raw, and unpolished.
Photo Credit Olivier Hoffschir
Watching them, I thought about how rare it is to see a modern artist with major fame refuse the easy optics of posturing and safe activism. Fontaines didn’t hide behind those gestures throughout their entire set. It felt like they stood there and meant it.
monday
With the festival wrapped and a little time left before I had to fly to Lisbon. I spent the next day at the Musee Marmottan
(Monet museum). They had a phenomenal exhibition by Eugène Boudin who taught Claude Monet how to paint outdoors..It was quiet and perfect and had the best blueberry tart I have ever had in a beautiful garden which is reserved for guests.
Photo Credit WF
Followed by a delicious steak frites and chocolate mousse dinner at Chez Janou. During the evening I was with a friend who had never been to Paris so we HAD to go to my favourite place to watch the tower sparkle you can only catch it at the first ten minutes of the hour until 10pm.
Photo Credit WF
Rock en Seine proved why it remains one of Europe’s most essential festivals. It is equal parts music, fashion, and Parisian magic. Across five days, the Domaine de Saint-Cloud became a playground for artists and fans who came not only for the music, but for the style, the scene, and the unmistakable energy of a city that knows how to put on a show.
Photo Credit WF
From the intimacy of emerging artists to the spectacle of global headliners, the festival delivered moments that felt cinematic, romantic, and raw all at once.
If you’re looking for a week that blends rock and roll with Paris at its most alive, Rock en Seine is it.
More icos in Paris captured by Sarah Rechbauer below:
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