a day at the beach

Hey All! It is Tuesday once again and things are quiet around our apartment this evening. It is the calm before the storm or, as Brenda may be thinking of it, Opening Night Eve. That's right, Brenda's show opens tomorrow and it's going to be a huge success ('knock on wood' - you can never be too careful). I've already seen the show twice and it is a good production with some fantastic singing. There was an audience at the final dress rehearsal last night and they clearly loved the show. They particularly loved Brenda but I'm sure you guessed as much.

Over the weekend, Elza and Isabelle invited Brenda, Heidi (one of Brenda's fellow singers) and me to the beach home they rent on the western coast of France. We spent two fun-filled days exploring the beach towns in the area, staring at the waves and, of course, eating. It was really a great weekend and a much needed mini-vacation for the singers that are at the tail-end of an intense rehearsal period.

A view from the house.

Brenda and I enjoying the ocean.

Brenda walking barefoot along the beach.

The weather here has been overcast and rainy as of late but, considering some of you still have snow, I won't complain. We have 10 days left in Bordeaux and in that time Brenda has 5 performances. That is an intense performance schedule for an opera singer. When we get back to Frankfurt it will be on a Friday and the following Monday Brenda will be in rehearsal for another opera. Goodbye France, hello Deutschland.

I hope you are all doing well. I will let you know how the first performance goes next time. Until then, have a great week!

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!

Happy Birthday, Brenda!

Hey All! I made it to sunny Bordeaux. And let me apologize in advance; I'm sorry it isn't below freezing and snowy here. If it were up to me I would be suffering through winter with the rest of you if for no other reason than a sense of fairness. However, Bordeaux doesn't seem to be too concerned with winter fairness since every day I've been here has been sunny with highs in the 50s. The French groundhog definitely saw his shadow.

A famous old building in Bordeaux. They have a lot of those.

It appears that I'm terrible at getting over jet-lag. My sleep has been extremely erratic since arriving in Europe. Two nights ago I slept for almost 12 hours. Last night I couldn't get to sleep until 5 am. I'm hoping that I will get into a regular sleep pattern soon so I don't have to be awake when the young drunk people come wandering down our street in the middle of the night. Brenda isn't sure why there are so many young people living in this area of Bordeaux -presumably there is a university nearby - but whatever the reason it makes for some noisy early morning hours. I couldn't sleep for a few hours in the middle of my first night here. As I sat in the living room reading, I got to enjoy many French conversations going on in the street. At around 5 am I was lucky enough to hear someone thoroughly empty the contents of their stomach right outside our apartment. I can't understand much of what anyone is saying around here but that guy got his message across loud and clear.

Trees

I haven't had a chance to explore much of Bordeaux yet but what I have seen has been beautiful. Bordeaux is built around the Garonne River which isn't very far from where we are staying. Brenda and I have already enjoyed several walks along the river which also seems to be a popular hangout for the locals.

The Garonne River

Today is February 8th or, as it's better known to me, Brenda's birthday! She is spending much of her day today at work but we will be going to a small dinner party tonight hosted by Brenda's lovely friends, Elza and Isabelle. Vegetarian food doesn't seem to be all that common in France but Elza and Isabelle are being very thoughtful and preparing a vegetarian feast for Brenda's big day.

I don't know for sure what the upcoming week will bring for us. Brenda will have rehearsal everyday (except Sunday) and I will most likely be reading and exploring Bordeaux. And eating baguettes. Whatever we do I'll be sure to tell you about it next Tuesday. Until then, have a great week!

la neige (snow)

Hey All! Hope your week is off to a good start. I'm guessing many of you are dealing with the big snow storm taking America by, um, storm. I have avoided the snow for the most part but have enjoyed watching it come down from the comforts of indoors. Barring any flight cancellations I will be leaving for Germany on Thursday. I arrive in Germany on Friday and take an 8 hour train ride to Bordeaux on Saturday. I can't wait to see Brenda!!!

Speaking of Brenda, France seems to be treating her well. She has rehearsals everyday except Sunday and when she's not in rehearsal she spends time with friends and skypes with me. Skype is awesome. I look forward to exploring Bordeaux with her and taking a lot of pictures. By the way, weren't the pictures Brenda posted on the blog last week nice? She has a real knack for blogging. I think she should do it more often.

Brenda and I will be in France until the first week in March. I have never been to France before and speak approximately 3 words of French. (One of those words is cheese.) I don't know if I will try to learn any French while I'm in Bordeaux for fear that it will take the place of some of my German vocabulary (or English vocabulary for that matter). I'll just wear a beret and do my best to fit in.

I will be writing to you next week from France! Until then, have a great week and au revoir!

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!