Bonjour from Bordeaux

Bonjour tout le monde! Since the "Ch" part of "Chenda" is ill, I've taken pity on him, and will write my third (is that right??) entry for the blog!

I have been in France for almost two weeks now, having started my journey in Paris. I spent three nights there, taking some vocal coachings with a woman who worked with Maria Callas (so yes, she's getting up there in years!) and also saw my good friend Isabel Leonard, who was singing the role of Sesto in the Paris Opera production of Giulio Cesare. She got me a ticket for the dress rehearsal, and as usual, she was absolutely fantastic. Then I hopped on another train, and made my way down to Bordeaux. It's an absolutely beautiful city, and I still feel like I have so much to explore! Here's a picture of the opera house:

Yes, I get to go to work there every day. :-) The city is full of grand buildings like that. It's also full of delicious cheeses, pastries, breads, and is famous for its wine. Have I mentioned I love my job? If you're interested in learning about the production I'm in, here's the website. I must warn you though, the page is all in French!

Even though Chad is not with me until the beginning of February, I still had company for my first week in Bordeaux! My old friend Lara is touring Europe for a couple weeks, and made a stop in France. It was rather special, since Lara and I have been together in France before, 12 years ago during our high school French class trip! We had lots of fun trying to remember all the French we used to know... And we had some really REALLY tasty cheese fondue.

My apartment (soon to be OUR apartment!) is small, but charming and comfortable. It's a 10 minute walk to the opera house, and also near the river. I live in the center of Bordeaux, and all the buildings are old and made of stone. It looks very French, if that makes any sense! I love it. The streets are tiny and you can easily see why all the cars here are so small!

The living/dining room.

Literally just a BEDroom! It's a queen size though!

Well, I will end it there for now! I'm about to try my hand at making some cabbage soup from scratch. No recipe either! This should be fun... :-) À tout à l'heure!

blogger fail

Hey All! Wow, have I been a bad blogger. A million apologies. Things have been pretty exciting on my side of the planet. First of all, I have a brand new, beautiful niece named Beatrice. She arrived a week or two early so she's had to spend some time in the hospital before she gets to go home. I was fortunate enough to meet her a couple of days ago and believe me when I tell you, she is the most adorable little girl.

I spent four days in Minneapolis recently which is partly why I'm delayed in posting an entry. I spent time with Dan, Whitney and Laura as well as their respective pets. On one of the days Dan taught me how to make some of his delicious bread. I'm confident I could do it on my own now (just as long as Dan is standing over my shoulder telling me what to do).

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, Brenda is finishing up her first week in Bordeaux. She has been busy with rehearsals and even sang a half recital on Thursday. It sounds like things have been going well. I'm hoping she will post an entry giving you a few more details on life in France. Stay tuned!

I head back to Europe in just under two weeks. Until then I plan on doing a lot more of this...

I hope you all have a great weekend and I'll talk to you next week!

Next stop: France

Hey All! The holidays have come and gone and the new year is well under way. At the moment, Brenda is in Frankfurt getting ready for her time in Bordeaux and I am in Iowa catching up with friends and family and spending some quality time with the treadmill. Brenda sang Pamina in Die Zauberflöte a couple of days ago and is now done performing in Frankfurt until March. She will be going to Paris in a couple of days to have some coachings and then she's off to Bordeaux.

Brenda and I with our nephews

I hope you are all doing well and I will talk to you next week!

Happy New Year!

Hey All! I just wanted to post a little something to let you know that we've been having a great time back in the US. We spent some time with my family in Iowa and are now at the end of several days with Brenda's family in Wisconsin. It has been wonderful to spend the holidays with our families.

Brenda heads back to Frankfurt tomorrow while I will be headed to Iowa. Brenda has about a week in Frankfurt (and one performance) before she goes to Bordeaux, France to start rehearsals for Ariadne auf Naxos. I will be joining her in France in early February but until then we will be apart. Ah, the life of someone who must travel for work. At least Brenda will have French wine and cheese to comfort her. I hope you are all enjoying 2011 so far and I'll talk to you next week if not sooner!