As there was not a venue (or, quit honestly, a town) in our next stop in France large enough to accommodate both the choir and the orchestra for the Brahms’ Requiem, Sabrina and I traveled separately to the village of Villard-Bonnot to perform our Puccini and My Fair Lady numbers with the orchestra while the choir went further south about 150 km to the village of Briancon. I was lucky enough to be housed with Maestro Tony Porter at the chairman’s house and three fourths of our time was spend outside in their lovely backyard and garden.
The patio outside was engulfed by kiwi vines… WHAT!!
Being located in the French Alps also came with some stunning views. For instance, the one from our backyard:
And now it’s time for the “French Stereotypes” portion of this blog post! All of our meals consisted of about five courses, the second to last being a de-licious cheese platter with many of the different regions represented:
Every morning when I would open the windows to let in some light and fresh air I was met by a lovely bit of escargot just waiting to be cooked!
And if you have cheese and escargot, you know that frogs aren’t far behind! I’ve only ever eaten frog legs once before when Catherine [side note—HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CATHERINE!!!] celebrated the third anniversary of owning the John Cleary Gallery but became quite a fan. Sabrina was just a couple of houses down from my own and one night we went on a walk to a nearby creek and the frogs were just buzzing!!
Please watch!! It’s just 15 seconds long and has a special guest star!!
Maestro Porter, Bruno and Christianne!
Artist: Elvis Presley/ Album: Walk a Mile in My Shoes
Fantastic. That is all.
ReplyDeleteawesome! i'm showing my kids the Ribbit clip so they can hear frogs with a french accent.
ReplyDelete