Day 58: Pau, France

Today was a pretty good day, with a lot of trumpet.  I woke up around 8h and didn't do a whole lot right away.  By 8h 45, I hot up and cleaned up my room a little bit and watched some YouTube videos. :) At around 11h, I started warming up for day one of my dewly devised practicing routine.  Basically it goes like this:

1 hour: Warm up and long tones and simple articulation exercises
2 hours: All of my other stuff like scales and articulations studies and arpeggios and interval studies
1 hour: lip slurs, music that is fun

It worked really well today, though I was pretty tired from lots of playing yesterday.  It is good because it is more directed and keeps me on task.  In between the first and second sessions, I folded my laundry and showered and listened to more stuff on YouTube.  I have been trying to find good French musicians.

After my long session, I went into town.  I found a shortcut to walk to town, it isn't that great, but it saves a few minutes.

This is the street I walk down now.

The Wright brothers actually lived and worked in Pau, and the first flight school in the world ever was established here.  Here's a link explining some of that history.  It's pretty cool.  There are also lots of pictures and other things to ready.  Let me know how they are...  AVION!





I was going to go to this museum, but it is closed on Mondays.  HOWEVER, on the way to the museum, is Giorgio's spot.  And he was there! I considered myself very fortunate, so I got two scoops of sorbet; mango and grapefruit.  The grapefruit was absolutely incredible.  I'm really glad I got to have it again.

This is where I sat and ate my ice cream.  Behind me is the court house of Pau.  This plaza ends with a very large fountain.  The two pyramids at the left and far right mark the two ends. 

Since the museum was closed, but it was too early to eat dinner,  went to a few stores.  I bought a sweater, a scarf, and some black socks for the opera shows.  I then just wandered around Pau for a while, because it was still way too early for dinner.

I found this cool, windy, narrow and hilly street in the oldest part of the city.

Finally, I got tired of waiting for more time to pass, so I just went and got a Kebab so I could go home.  When I got there, my family was back, so it's nice to have people in the house again.  It sounds like they had a good trip.  Their drive was only 6 hours! It took me 9 hours to go less distance on a train.

I did my last hour, and it went pretty well.  Now, I think I am getting sick.  I feel absolutely exhausted, even though I didn't do a whole lot, so I am going to go to sleep. 

Day 57: Pau, France

Today was a lot like yesterday, but with a different name.  I woke up around 7h for my opera rehearsal.  The pain I felt when I straightened my knee when I woke up my be the most intense I have ever felt.  It was really awesome.  Anyway, there are no buses on Sunday mornings, so I had to walk.  That is too bad, because I don't like walking all that way with my stuff.

Rehearsal today, was much, much better.  We got through the first act in about an hour and a half today.  Yesterday, it took almost twice as long.  everything just went much more smoothly today.  The sets are all finished, and, from what I've seen, look great.  It is very cool to see it all coming together. 

For lunch, I went to a restaurant near the chateau with the French horn player and the bassoon player.  I forget their names.  The lasagna I got was absolutely incredible.  It was with a Gorgonzola white sauce.  It was absolutely incredible. 

There is a nice park near the theater on the way to the chateau.  At one end is this old hotel, and the other end opens up to the Pyrenees. It is very nice.

This building now houses the Municipal Water Authority.  How fun.  The theater is directly behind this building.

In the middle of the park.

Cool French architecture.  This is much more indicative of money than the region.

After lunch, rehearsal continued to go really well.  At one point, we stopped for like 15 minutes so Bernard, the conductor could argue about the safety of the extras fight with real swords.  Eventually it was decided that swords are sweet and the would stay.  I also discovered something interesting about my knee pain.  If I straighten my knee too quickly, but realize right away, and move it back, it still hurts.  But the pain builds very slowly in the same way it does if it stays straight.  It is very interesting.  And painful.

After rehearsal, I went home and started practicing almost immediately.  I spent almost 4 hours playing tonight.  It was nice to play so much, and I think I got better, but right now my face just hurts. 

Day 56: Pau, France

Today, I had an opera rehearsal from 9h to 12h and 14h to 17h.  The morning rehearsal was pretty rough for everybody, myself included.  I think because it was the first full ensemble meeting in a week, and we were in the theater for the first time, and they were building the set on stage and all kinda of other stuff.  Some of it was pretty bad. 

Building the backdrop for Act II.

 
At lunch, I went and visited one of the two cathedrals in the town center.  Église Saint-Martin, built in 1860, is the older of the two.  It is a beautiful example of neo-gothic architecture.  I spent about 30 min walking around the church.  I was the only person inside for a while.  It was pretty cool.

Standing just inside the main entrance.

The apse and ambulatory are quite ornate.  The transepts are decorated in a similar fashion. (Ain't you impressed with my knowledge of architectural terms)

Looking up at the spire.

Flying buttress at the ambulatory.

Looking towards the Cathedral from the North.  In front is a WWII memorial to those that were killed serving for the Latin American allies, Indochina, Tunisa, and a few other smaller French colonized nations.

After I was done at the church, I went across the street and got lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, Ai-Vy.  I got Pho, which I have never had before.  It was very good.  After, I had some delicious lemon sorbet.  It has bits of fresh lemon rind and pulp in it.  It was really, really good.

Pho.

The afternoon rehearsal went marginally better, but not by much.  Except for me; my playing was a lot better in the afternoon, so that was nice.  Hopefully everybody gets to, ahem, my level.  JK.  I really hope they get way past that. 

After rehearsal, I went home and relaxed for a few minutes and then I practiced for several hours.  It was a very good practice session.  I think I am making progress. 

Day 55: Quiberon - Carnac - Auray, France

We woke up around 9h and left by about 9h 45.  Yohann drove me to several sites in the area so I could visit and take pictures.  It was a very fast paced morning, but it was a lot of fun.  Here are a bunch of pictures:

This is the north coast of the peninsula, called the "Wild Coast"

Me, standing on the WILD COAST.

This sticker is demanding that this text appear in the Breton language, and not the language of the occupying Frenc.  (More on that later.)

WILD ARCH (L'arche de port blanc)

WILD STAIRCASE

In the good ole days, you could walk wherever you wanted.  There was also no grass left.  Yohann says this is way prettier now.  I believe him.

There is no real historical significance to this church, even though it is 167 years old.  This is a good example of traditional Breton architecture.

Because this was a fishing village, the church has a very different look and feel.  The women and mothers of the town would come here to pray for the safe returns of the fishing boats.

The stained glass was all very simple, but very nice.

We then visited the Fort de Penthièvre.  It is at the top of the peninsula, and is about 150 years old.  When the Germans took it over, they used it to kill French people. Here, they apparently liked to entomb people, still alive, in the walls.  Now, it is only used by the French army for training exercises.

Le Fort.

This guy is practicing running away if the only escape route is two parallel, suspended steel cables.

We then visited some of the old German defenses from WWII.  The Germans were fairly confident that if an attack came, it would come somewhere in Brittany. (The beaches in Brittany are much more forgiving than those in other parts of France.) This is evidenced by the extremely heavy fortifications. (SPOILER ALERT: WE ATTACKED IN NORMANDY) Just in this area, there are maybe 8 large bunkers, and this large tower thing.   It was used as a watch tower and probably had some kind of big gun on top. 

Probably not the friendliest looking structure I have ever seen.

It looks like this guy was about 15 feet from being a lot shorter.

 We then went and visited the megaliths at Carnac.  This is a major anthropological site.  It is a collection of nearly 3000 megaliths (anthropology speak for "rock") arranged in really long lines.  The rocks date from between 2,000 and 4,000 B.C.E., and nobody has any clue who put these rocks here, or why. 

I bet you I know where we could find those missing rocks. 

The go a really long way.  Look in the distance...

 The two preceding pictures were taken from the same location, facing opposite directions.  This is just a tiny portion of the megaliths at Carnac.

Some of them are absolutely massive.  I would imagine they started here, and then later decided maybe they better just get a bunch of smaller ones.

They were so smart they figured out how to line of 3000 rocks, but it never occurred to anybody to pile them up on each other to make something useful?  The could have made an observation tower like this one, to look at their really long lines of rocks...

Finally, the tour ended with a visit to the tomb of Georges Kadoudal (Cadoudal, if you want to look him up on Wikipedia).  He is a very controversial figure in French history, and the namesake of the Kadoudal Drum & Bugle Corps.  Long story short: Brittany was it's own country.  The queen of Brittany married the King of France, thus joining the two nations.  However, Brittany maintained many of it's rights that the rest of France didn't have. (Kind of like what people think Texas is like.) In 1789(I think), a bunch of French people decided they were hungry, so they revolted against the king, and told the Britons to go fight.  This pissed Georges Cadoudal off because Brittany was losing all of the rights it once had, so instead of joining the revolution, he revolted against the revolution.  (Kinda like William Wallace(Braveheart))  He killed a lot of French people which is generally frowned upon in France, but he is somewhat of a local hero in standing for the rights of Brittany.  There are still those who believe that Brittany should have more rights as a country, though, they revolt by putting stickers on signs.  Brittany does have some unique rights.  For example: while most highways in France are toll roads, those in Brittany are not.

Yohann chose to name his corps after Kadoudal(Breton spelling) because he is a strong historical figure, and gives his corps a strong identity rooted in French and Briton culture.

Pantheon much?

I then spent about 8297047598 on a train coming home.  My train to Bordeaux somehow took an extra 40 minutes, so I missed my train to Pau, but they just put me on the next one.  It was a really great day.

Day 54: Quiberon, France

I had a really great day today.  I woke up a little after 9h again and we left just before 10h to get to rehearsal.  I think that the most impressive thing Yohann has done is that when he gets there at 10h for a 10h rehearsal, all of his members are there waiting.  Haha these kids are way better at starting on time than the orchestra and professional musicians performing in the opera.  The morning was good.  After stretch, I reviewed forward marching and then we worked more on backwards marching.  At the end, we played a little game I like to call 'March Really Fast'.  They had fun playing, and Yohann pointed out to me that 'games' are a great way to trick French kids into working hard. Hardly? Does that make sense? It seems wrong... Hardly... But it IS an adverb... Hmmm.  Are 'working hardly' and 'hardly working' actually total opposites? That seems to be the case. 



Yesterday, at the end of the mellophone sectional, it was requested of me that I play for the corps today, so at the end of the morning rehearsal, I played for a few minutes.  It was a lot of fun. 

Here is me making noises with my trumpet.

I didn't have any music with me, nor do I have anything prepared.  I decided to play Carnival of Venice, by JB Arban.  It sounds way harder than it actually is, and it is French.  When I was done, they wanted to hear something from Scouts, so I played the Ice Castles solo.  They really loved all of it, and seemed to have a lot of fun. 

This is me with a bunch of the kids I worked with.  Yohann is on the left with the beige shirt and Yvan is on the right in the blue sweatshirt.

At lunch, we had hot dogs.  We were going to go look at the coats a little more, so I could walk around and take some pictures and stuff, but it was raining.  It is always raining here.  I would not be surprised if the forecast for here says something like: "What do you think is going to happen?"  We may try again tomorrow morning.

All of the sectionals in the afternoon went really well.  I got all of this kids playing some Clark studies and lip slurs and a simple etude and some warm ups, at about the same level. I finally felt like I made some progress today-- I'm bummed that I have to leave.

Me working with Yvan's son.  He has only been playing for a month, but he is doing really well. 

After the final sectional, Yohann took me home, and he went to a meeting in Carnac.  I took a little while to practice.  I couldn't focus so well, so I just worked on Carnival of Venice, because that is fun.  I think I am going to do a recital of French music in April some time.  It will be wonderful. (AKA: BAD)  For dinner, I went to Yvan's house, and we had some traditional Brittan food: CREPES!!!!  Lol, they were good.  Here, they usually have ham, eggs, and cheese.  We also had locally made cider.  Also very good.  Yohann was not back yet, but they were wonderful in welcoming me into their home again.  It was a really nice dinner.  I have had a great time here, and I am bummed it is already time to leave.

Day 53: Quiberon, France

Today was another day with lot's of teaching.  I always forget hard hard it is until I do it, and then I am stunned by how hard it is, for like a day, and then I remember that this is not new information to me.  Anyway, I was really cold two nights ago, so tonight I bundled up and used an extra blanket.  It was great.  We taught for two hours in the morning.  I did a stretch, some breathing exercises, reviewed forward marching basics and then we worked on backwards marching.  It was a good morning for me.  Lunch at Yohann's was a pork chop and some pasta with tomatoes.  It was a good lunch.

This is standing at the front door, looking into Yohann's flat.

In the afternoon/evening, I taught music for a few hours.  The corps members are really fantastic.  They are such hard workers, and are so receptive to new information, it is really great.  At the end of the day, I was going to go to town and the coast, but it was really cold and very windy, so Yvan's wife took me on a car ride up the cost of the peninsula.  Yohann and I will go into to town and the beach tomorrow during the day.  It is really, really beautiful.  The architecture is very nice, and the coast line is really amazing.  The town is very cute, but I think very different in the summer.  There are about 5,000 people living here, unless it is the summer, and then there are about 50,000.

Here is Yohann, cooking us omelets for dinner.  

After dinner, we just watched some news and then The Mentalist.  And he showed me some old Tin-Tin stuff.  The Tin-Tin movie is a big deal hear in France.  I hear a lot about it.  It is always in the news.

Day 52: Quiberon, France

So right now, I am on fall break, and I am spending mine in Quiberon with my friend Yohann.  Yohann marched in the Madison Scouts in 2004 and he founded the first drum corps in France, Kadoudal, in 2008.  I will be spending some time the next few days working with his group.  They are only in their third year, but they are off to a pretty good start.  Here is a video of them from the 2011 DCE Finals:

They are quite small, as you can see, but the biggest European drum corps only have maybe 60-70 members.  This group is made of kids between the ages of 8 and 16, so it is quite different.  During lunch, we went to Yohann's house and ate pizza and salad.  It was most good.

Yohann working with Clement, one of the 6 trumpet players.  Clement is basically a pro.  He has been playing for several weeks.

 
Yohann is struggling to generate interest for his group, basically because drum corps is hard, and French people don't like to work.  His group is growing, though, and there is a possibility of another drum corps forming nearby. 

Me teaching(clapping at) the mellophones.  Rehearsing here is basically the same as in the USA, except instead of saying "again" in between clappings you say "encore".

The group is very young, and has a ton of room to improve, but overall, I was very impressed.  They are all very willing to learn, and apply new information really well.  I think that Yohann has a great system in place, and hopefully soon, the group will really take off. 

After we finished teaching, we went to Yohann's brother's house and spent the evening there.  Yvan turned 42 today.  I don't quite completely understand what he does, but it has something to do with a bugle and a horse.  It was a really nice evening.  We had appetizers and snacks and then eclairs and cake for desert.  I also had multiple glasses of good champagne.  It may have tasted so good because it was mixed with raspberry liqueur.  My last glass was with a lavender liqueur.  It was a little weird, but good. 

Day 51: Pau - Quiberon, France

Today, I traveled to Quiberon.  Quiberon is a tiny village in Brittany, in the northwest of France.  Quiberon



I woke up late, and I left for the train station.  I took a train from Pau, with one change, all the way to Quiberon.  All in all, it was about 9 hours of travel.

I had this stuff with lunch.  I heard it was good, and it is.  It is flavored with Grapefruit, lemon, orange and madarine orange.  It is SO GOOD.

One Euro to the first person to correctly identify this location.

My home for 6 hours today. It was usually much more crowded.

 When I arrived in Auray, my friedn Johann picked me up and bought me McDonalds.  I think it is better here.  Then, we drove to his house. 

All very thrilling, I know...





 

Day 50: Pau, France

Today was my second full cast rehearsal for the opera.  Overall, it was much better today, which is to expected when you are collaborating with such a large group.  I am still absolutely amazed by the Soprano’s aria at the start of the second act.  And the recording I have doesn’t come close to comparing to our soloist.  I think it’d work on trumpet, with organ.   I am going to work on that.  Today, was the Rugby World Cup final, between France(les Bleus) and New Zealand(the All Blacks).  Rugby is very popular in the south of France, even though people are very secretive about this fact.  It was a big deal, and all rehearsal, people were watching the match on iphones sitting on music stands.  It was a very exciting match, but New Zealand ended up winning 8-7.  Everybody seemed pretty pleased with the French play.  I think there was a pervading fear that France might have lost 87-0, so this was much better than the alternative. 

One of the main viewing screens in the Salle de Ravel.  See it? The blue thing... On the stand to the right.

 

After rehearsal, I walked home and got a bunch of blisters on my feet.  The insoles of my shoes came un-attached and bunched up and it was just awful.  I guess that is what happens when you pay 8.40€ for a pair of shoes.  

I didn’t really do a ton the rest of the evening.  I practiced a while, and I packed and got ready for my trip, and I watch The Empire Strikes Back, in French.  Less amusing than the first, but still pretty funny.  I think the funniest part is that the French don’t seem to yell.  So even in parts where a person is angry and yelling, you don’t really hear any yelling. 

Tomorrow, I am going to a place that isn’t Pau. Yay.

Day 49: Pau, France

Today, I was in Pau, France.  I woke up and it was less cold in my room, because I figured out how to use the heater in here.  It made getting up a lot easier.  I had a breakfast, and then I headed to my opera rehearsal.  This was the first rehearsal with everybody in the production.  The chorus is not so good, but some of the soloists they have brought in are absolutely phenomenal.  The soprano's aria at the beginning of the second act is absolutely gorgeous.  And oh my god are they loud.  It is pretty unreal to hear it up close.  They are all also very relaxed and low maintenance.  It is a good vibe overall.  Basically, here is a visual representation of the talent and skill of the group, starting with the best:

THE SOLOISTS

BERNARD SALLES(conductor)


MOST OF THE ORCHESTRA
ME
THE CELLOS








THE CHORUS




























THE LADY STANDING RIGHT BEHIND ME


Anyway, overall, I think the production will be pretty good.  Either way, it should be fun.  For lunch I went to lunch with British flute player lady.  She is very nice.  We were both kinda walking the same direction, so we just kinda went together.

After opera, nice British flute player lady drove me to the train station.  Where I purchased my Carte 12-25(30- for a limited time only)  This is a card for 12-25(30) year olds that you buy that gives you sweet discounts on train tickets. (Between 25% and 60%..) 

Convenient ID?

Or annoying folded up boarding pass?

After I was done, I took the trolley thing up to town.  I'd tell you about it, but it's all in that article, including several photos that are better than all of the ones I just deleted. 

This park area was at the top.  This picture is not so good.

Some of the flowers in the park.

As I was headed home, I remembered Gorgio's ice cream, and that I have never had any.  Georgio is an old man that sells ice cream out of his blue van.  I was told it is the best ice cream in Pau.  Anyway, he is a little bit mysterious, and nobody knows exactly when he will show up, but I decided to look for him.  And I was very fortunate to fine him.  He stops selling ice cream in the winter, so this may have been my final chance.  I got a really great mango sorbet.  (Almost as good as Spain)

This is me next to Georgio's van. 

After, I got a pizza for dinner and went home and watched Star Wars: Un Nouvel Espoir.  It was fairly amusing to see Star Wars in French.  L'abominable Empire galactique just does not have the same ring to it.  Nor does: L'ETOILE DE LA MORT. I even put it in all caps, and it is still just as intimidating as any real weapon to be brandished by the French.  Anyway, it was a pretty good day, and now I'm going to go to sleep.

Day 48: Pau, France

Today was a great day.  Do you know why? Because it was Vendredi, and Vendredis are awesome.  I was gonna wake up early to practice, but that ended when I pulled the blanket an inch away from my torso, allowing several cubic millimeters of frigid air to enter my cocoon.  I decided to go with the I'll-just-hide-from-the-cold-under-the-covers-until-I-am-about-to-be-late-and-I-have-no-option-but-to-get-up approach.  It worked extraordinarily well when coupled with the I'm-just-going-to-put-my-watch-a-few-minutes-ahead-and-I'll-forget-when-I'm-tired-in-the-morning method of time keeping.  I got to class with at least 5 minutes to spare. 

This morning, in class, I took a two hour long exam.  It was really tiring and difficult.  I'm sure I failed, and I will probably be deported for doing so poorly.  After lunch, I went back to class.  It was cool, because my teacher had decided we had already worked enough today, so we didn't do much.  She also probably understood that her class was the only thing between us(except me) and fall break.  In this class, I also found the worst candy EVER:

Don't worry, Natalie, I am bringing you some back.

It is unreal how awful these things taste.  It is like a mix of PlayDoh and fart.  I will probably bring a few bags back and share them with everybody.  You're welcome.

After class, I went home and did an hour warm up.  It was good.  Then, I went BACK TO CLASS.  Yeah... It was terrible.  However, it went fairly quickly, and Prof. Teacher seemed pretty pleased with my presentation.  I talked about the reign of Henri II and how he was a great innovator it the repression of protestants. 

After class, I practiced a lot.  It was awesome.  Still terrible.  I have opera all day tomorrow. 

Day 47: Pau, France

Today, I woke up and it was really cold in my room.  I tried to do some buzzing, and everything felt horrible.  It was almost 40 min in before I even picked up  my trumpet.  I did an hour of Stamp and Clark #2, and at no point did anything sound or feel remotely good.  It was awesome.

Then, I checked the weather.  It told me it was 9°C and sunny.  Chilly, but not too bad.  Now, I'm no meteorologist, but I'm pretty sure this is not sunny:

Oh what a beautiful mourning...

In class this morning, only five people out of like 9 or 11 or whatever showed up.  It was still pretty fun.  We are working on diction a lot, so it is helpful. My afternoon class was fine.  We got a bunch of homework back.  I am really good at B+... 

After class, I went home and practiced.  It went really poorly for about 30 min.  Finally, things started feeling a little better, and I managed to get some good work done.  In the middle, I took a break and walked to Carreffour Market.  I got a shirt at the secondhand shop for 4 euros.  Sweet.  I also got some cookies and batteries.  I also got more candy.

These things are trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with B and that stands for...

BONBONS!!!!

Yum...