jj orchestra concert

our road, rue du commerce was closed off today for pedestrians only. it is a sort of street fair with all the vendors having tents in front. it is terribly crowded on saturdays as it is, but this made it even more crowded and difficult to walk. 

later, jj had an orchestra concert. we arrived at 8:30, for the beginning of the concert, but another younger orchestra was going to play first and they hadn’t even started. we decided we’d go for walk while they played. (they were all playing the same music from the last concert). on our walk, we found a jazz club with a pianist playing, so we decided to stop and have a drink. they had nice sangria. we felt a little guilty, but we also laughed at the idea. we got back to the church just in time. her orchestra isn’t great, but the location, an ancient stone church with carved columns, was beautiful. i sat there thinking that at least this was an opportunity to make this complex music – even with mistakes – in an interesting environment. you don’t have this sort of place in the US. jj said that at one point, all the violinists had turned their pages to the next piece, but it was the wrong music, so they didn’t come in at the right time. funny, we hadn’t notice at all. on top of that, the audience, made up of parents and grandparents, were a bit over-enthusiastic. they applauded wildly at the very end, with a standing ovation and called for an encore. a bit overdone. the french get very enthusiastic about music. anyway, afterwards, jj went to the home of her friend (the other violinist) for a sleepover. 

p and i went to blvd montparnasse. p wanted go to cafe he remembered from past visits, to get a bite. it is called “le select” which is the namesake of a cafe in belmont. the food was ok, not great. the french salad nicoise is just not as good as it should be. i used to LOVE french salads, but salads in the US have now surpassed the ones in france. but it was fine. what was nice was sitting there on the boulevard. it is a very animated area. you could be alone and feel like you were with company, just sitting there watching the people.

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