Hello!
Well, it has been a busy few weeks. I survived my week of slavery in the kitchen here at Eau Vive (and didn't burn anything - it was the chef who burned the Tarte Arlesiennes - I just had to scrape off the burnt bits and make them look good...) whilst practising my bassoon madly as I was preparing to head to Nice to do a music course there for a week. In the process, I found some more bassoon enthusiasts, in the form of 2 boys - one 9 and one 11. The 9 year old had a very impressive mullet, but I won't hold that against him. They decided it was a really cool instrument, and sat and listened while I played some of the more painful bits without complaint. Actually, I think that the only complaint will be from their parents....
I had an amazing week in Nice. I was having lessons from Laurent Lefevre, who plays in the Opera National de Paris. I ended up having between 40 mins and an hour lesson each day that I was there, and we also could sit in on other people's lessons. There were 9 bassoonists there in all, although some of them played the French instrument, which is slightly different to the German system instrument that I play. I was told that I should be practising for 5 hours everyday, and of that, at least 2 hours should be on scales. Hmmm.
The conservatoire at Nice was a really modern building, and our bassoon room had a lovely view of the sea, and all the planes taking off from the airport. It also had the much needed air conditioning after the walk up the hill. We discovered on the penultimate day that there was also a bus that we could have got up there, but by then it was too late. The hill was far worse than anything that Durham has to offer (except Cardiac hill...) and when you added the heat of at least 30 degrees plus the bassoon on your back....
Unfortunately, as I was working hard at the Conservatoire each day, I saw very little of Nice itself, but did manage to get out for a walk along the Promenade des Anglais with a friend from Eau Vive who happened to also be visiting Nice (he also tried to take me to a football match - but didn't succeed there!)
I returned to Eau Vive last week, and got straight back to work for a "stage" which was training people who work for the church here in France about the law and accounts and that sort of thing. It was fairly complicated, intense and heavy going from what I can gather. I was no longer working in the kitchen but was moved onto watering the flowers and doing some other odd jobs, including washing walls and preparing breakfast. I spent a lot of time catching up on sleep as well, especially by the pool.
The stage ended at the weekend, and slowly, the rest of the team have been leaving for the 3 week shutdown. I decided to stay and attempt to write my year abroad essays, and do any odd jobs which need doing around here (so far, lots and lots and lots of washing, which is about to develop into lots and lots and lots of ironing!) There is another guy who has stayed, as well as a young couple and their daughter Noa Eve who live here. Even if this will make you sick, the weather here is amazing - there isn't even much wind right now.
Exciting events of the last week include a trip to the beach on Sunday (after church), me attempting to drive the Peugeot 106 here to go to the post office and not hitting anything, and a lizard falling into the washing up. (The lizard survived - luckily I had already pulled the plug.)
Right, it is getting late, so I need to go to bed!
Lots of love
Sarah
xxx
Well, it has been a busy few weeks. I survived my week of slavery in the kitchen here at Eau Vive (and didn't burn anything - it was the chef who burned the Tarte Arlesiennes - I just had to scrape off the burnt bits and make them look good...) whilst practising my bassoon madly as I was preparing to head to Nice to do a music course there for a week. In the process, I found some more bassoon enthusiasts, in the form of 2 boys - one 9 and one 11. The 9 year old had a very impressive mullet, but I won't hold that against him. They decided it was a really cool instrument, and sat and listened while I played some of the more painful bits without complaint. Actually, I think that the only complaint will be from their parents....
I had an amazing week in Nice. I was having lessons from Laurent Lefevre, who plays in the Opera National de Paris. I ended up having between 40 mins and an hour lesson each day that I was there, and we also could sit in on other people's lessons. There were 9 bassoonists there in all, although some of them played the French instrument, which is slightly different to the German system instrument that I play. I was told that I should be practising for 5 hours everyday, and of that, at least 2 hours should be on scales. Hmmm.
The conservatoire at Nice was a really modern building, and our bassoon room had a lovely view of the sea, and all the planes taking off from the airport. It also had the much needed air conditioning after the walk up the hill. We discovered on the penultimate day that there was also a bus that we could have got up there, but by then it was too late. The hill was far worse than anything that Durham has to offer (except Cardiac hill...) and when you added the heat of at least 30 degrees plus the bassoon on your back....
Unfortunately, as I was working hard at the Conservatoire each day, I saw very little of Nice itself, but did manage to get out for a walk along the Promenade des Anglais with a friend from Eau Vive who happened to also be visiting Nice (he also tried to take me to a football match - but didn't succeed there!)
I returned to Eau Vive last week, and got straight back to work for a "stage" which was training people who work for the church here in France about the law and accounts and that sort of thing. It was fairly complicated, intense and heavy going from what I can gather. I was no longer working in the kitchen but was moved onto watering the flowers and doing some other odd jobs, including washing walls and preparing breakfast. I spent a lot of time catching up on sleep as well, especially by the pool.
The stage ended at the weekend, and slowly, the rest of the team have been leaving for the 3 week shutdown. I decided to stay and attempt to write my year abroad essays, and do any odd jobs which need doing around here (so far, lots and lots and lots of washing, which is about to develop into lots and lots and lots of ironing!) There is another guy who has stayed, as well as a young couple and their daughter Noa Eve who live here. Even if this will make you sick, the weather here is amazing - there isn't even much wind right now.
Exciting events of the last week include a trip to the beach on Sunday (after church), me attempting to drive the Peugeot 106 here to go to the post office and not hitting anything, and a lizard falling into the washing up. (The lizard survived - luckily I had already pulled the plug.)
Right, it is getting late, so I need to go to bed!
Lots of love
Sarah
xxx
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