October 30
Busy day. At the
morning rehearsal a newspaper journalist from Ouest France came by, shot some
pictures and video of the choristers singing, and did a few interviews. The story is set to appear this week, and the
video will be shown on the Ouest France Web site at www.ouest-france.fr/stlo Take a look.
Lunch quickly followed, and in the afternoon we took a great
bus trip to the famous Mont-Saint Michel, a village built on a rock standing in
the middle of a bay topped by a Gothic abbey church. The abbey houses an order of monks and nuns
and is said to be a place of pilgrimage for the Western world.
All had fun exploring and visiting the shops at Mont-Saint
Michel and in the town itself. It was a
nice respite before we all returned to dinner and more rehearsal for the big
gala tomorrow night.
October 29, 2012
The first YPC tour I went on was to Sweden six months ago. It was the first time I traveled
internationally, and it was a rewarding experience. I have been so excited about France, a country
I have always wanted to visit and have been looking forward to approaching this
tour with the experience of Sweden under my belt.
I can truly say that this tour has been amazing so far. We have had no concerts yet, but it’s been
wonderful to have free time to experience Paris. We stayed at beautiful hotel, sang a song at
the Eiffel Tower, and had the freedom to explore the city in groups. The boulangeries (bakeries) are every bit as
numerous and wonderful as they are rumored to be. Today, we took a bus to a region of
Normandy, the town of Saint Lô. The hard work of being on tour began tonight
with rehearsals by section after dinner, and over the next six days we will
give five concerts. I know this will be very
challenging and demanding week, but when I look back on this trip in the years
to come, I know I will have given it my all.
I am so thankful to Francisco and Elizabeth and the rest of the office staff. They will not accept mediocrity and it pushes
me not to accept less from myself. I
can’t wait to see where this week takes us.
Lindsey, 15, Concert Chorus
October 29
The YPC choristers spent their last few hours in Paris on
Monday morning continuing to sightsee and shop, while Francisco, Rose (our
intrepid French translator), and Chris (who is taking all of these great
pictures) taxied to the Radio France studio to be interviewed on the hour-long
French radio show “Traverses du Temp” with host, producer, and YPC friend
Marcel Quillèvère.
We will all get to hear the entire interview, which includes
lots of YPC music on the program, on November 9 at 1 p.m. streamed from the
Radio France Web site. More details to
come.
October 28, 2012
A good night’s sleep
produced a miraculous recovery from that first l-o-o-o-ng day in France and
began 1½ days of not only intensive rehearsals, but also some intensive
sightseeing.
I hadn’t gotten to hear YPC’s whole program, but I DID get
to hear a new YPC piece that the Polyfollia audiences are going to go crazy
for—“Douce France”—with some incredible accompaniment that includes Elizabeth
on trumpet and Eddie on ukelele. So
fabulous! I’m even hearing it in my
sleep.
The sights in Paris were also pretty fabulous. First stop—where else?—the Eiffel Tower. So familiar and so impressive in person!
The choristers were so inspired, there was only one thing to
do—sing “Douce France.”
From there the choristers broke up into small groups and
headed out on their separate ways. They
scoured the city, not wanting to miss seeing at least some of Paris’s storied
landmarks: walks along the Seine, L’Arc
de Triomphe, Notre-Dame, the Champs-Elysées, and one funny moment when a
few of the girls spotted a beautiful, ornate palace with hundreds of people
waiting in long, roped-off lines outside.
As the girls got closer, this magnificent palace turned out to be an
Abercrombie & Fitch. Who knew?
The choristers mastered the Paris subway system and savored
Parisian waffles, fresh crepes, and even French pizza.
Angela Duryea, YPC Staff
Photographs and video by Christopher Hall
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