Music in Paris...

This morning we went a few doors down the road to our favourite breakfast spot for omelettes, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee - and then to the boulangerie almost next door to our apartment for a "grande baguette" (cost 1 euro) and the cheese shop directly underneath our apartment for some terrine and ham and proceeded to prepare for a picnic and walk to our favourite park in Paris - Luxembourg Gardens - with Shirley, our friend from Perth.

As we crossed the bridge that joins Isle-St-Louis and Isle-de-Cite, we stopped to listen to a fantastic three-piece jazz band with a singer, pianist and base player (they weren't busking, just selling their CDs) - and that was the start of our musical day.

Then we stopped at an out-door market in Bvd St Germaine for some exquisite little strawberries and figs before heading up the hill at Bvd St Michelle towards the park.  And there, in a bandstand, a big band was just setting up.  The lawn at Luxembourg gardens is strictly off-limits (and constantly patrolled by the whistle blowing lawn-police), however there are hundreds (if not thousands) of chairs scattered throughout the park.

Brian and I deliberately arrived early because we have previously experienced difficulty finding chairs in the park when the sun is shining, as it was today.  We managed to find 3 chairs in a prime location and placed them next to a concrete stool which we set appropriately - table cloth, wine glasses, cutlery, plates, napkins, cheese, terrine, ham, tomatoes, olives, bread, strawberries, figs and a bottle of pinot - and waited for Shirley to arrive.  And then the most extraordinary thing happened - we became a tourist attraction and every American tourist wanted a photo of us to show the folks back home!!

Shirley arrived just as the band, with lead singer, began to play fabulous old-fashioned swing music - it was wonderful.  And Luxembourg Gardens is a mass of exquisite colour at the moment - probably the best we've ever seen. 

We then walked Shirley back to her apartment in the Marais, stopping for coffee on the way, and visited another department store (I managed to find a nice cafe in the store where Brian was able to sit and read his book over a glass of beer while I shopped) and came "home" for a rest before setting off to the Madeleine for a production of Mozart's Requiem.  

Our expectations were not high.  The reviews on tripadvisor said that the concert is repeated frequently and attended by hundreds of tourists - but we decided that it was worth the risk and bought the best tickets we could online many months ago.  We arrived early because seat allocation in each area is on a 1st come 1st served basis, and managed to get fabulous seats in the front row.

The concert was sensational!  A big chamber orchestra (France's equivalent of the ACO), a large choir standing on the steps of the alter, 4 soloists and a gorgeous, sexy young conductor not unlike our own Richard Tognetti!  There is no stage in the Madeleine of course, and our seats were about 3 metres from the conductor, 2 metres from the 1st violin and 1 metre from the beautiful soprano. What an experience.  The venue, the music and the spectacle were breath-takingly beautiful and something we will never forget.

So then home on the metro, a quick dinner in a cafe at the end of our street and now it's very late again and time to head off to bed.  Another fantastic day in this amazing city.