jour de l'amour

Hello All! Things in Bordeaux are moving right along. Brenda is busy with rehearsals and I'm busy trying to find things to keep myself busy. Ariadne auf Naxos, the opera Brenda is performing in, opens in 8 days. That means it is going to be orchestra rehearsals and run-throughs from here on out. I haven't sat in on any rehearsals yet but I have a feeling the singing in this production is going to be amazing.

The dinner party we went to last week was really wonderful. You may remember it was in honor of Brenda's birthday. Isabelle and Elza had us over to their beautiful apartment and made an excellent vegetarian meal. Below is a picture taken during the festivities.

Me, Heidi, Brenda and Elza

Not pictured: Isabelle, Luc and Thomas

Yesterday, Brenda had a piano dress rehearsal of the opera. She was kind enough to take a picture of herself in costume. And I thought opera singers usually wore horns...

I have done quite a bit of walking in Bordeaux. I haven't, however, been very adventurous in my routes and have stuck mainly to walking by the Garonne and in the neighborhoods around the opera house. A couple of blocks away from our apartment is a travel agency with the image below on one of their windows. I must have walked by the store two or three times before Brenda made me stop and really look at it.

Now, I've never felt great about my geography knowledge. I've always assumed that Europeans would know where countries are located way better than I would. After seeing this, though, I feel a lot better.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day! Yippee! Actually, between you and me, I'm not all that into Valentine's Day. Too much pink and red for my taste. I have to admit, however, that this Valentine's Day was fantastic. Brenda surprised me with a night at a very nice hotel in Bordeaux. I've never stayed in a hotel that nice before but I think I could get used to it.

I hope you all had a very nice Valentine's Day (if you're into such things) and I'll talk to you next week!