A Trip to France…. 4/3/13

April 3, 2013

After the concert on Beethoven’s piano concerto, youtube link http://youtu.be/8UvdTE1YEpw, I took a week off from Occidental College to fly to France! I have not done a real trip without performances for a long time, and it was so good to do. No worry to find a piano to practice, no worry to have memory slip after long flights…. I truely enjoyed every moment. First I visited my friend, Marielle, in Treignac, near Limoge, and later joined my husband in Paris who was traveling Europe as a part of LA Phil’s tour. I had not seen Marielle for many years, and we had lots to catch up! She lives in a medievel house which has been the hand of her family since the medievel time. It is just amazing. Now she lives with her hunband, François, and they renovated the place to do Bed and Breakfast Inn during the season. It was beautiful as I remembered from the previous visits. And we took a walk with her cousin, Therese, in the countryside. If you go to France you must experience it’s countryside. It is just so special, peaceful, quiet, woods, river, lakes, hills, you name it! I totally understand Chopin liked to stay a country home with Sand to be inspired. After few days in Treignac I came back to Paris. Or course I visited touristic places, but most importantly I visited many composers’ tombs. Paris has full of history, history…. I had a lot to talk with each composer I visited, especially Chopin. How many hours I have spent on his music?? And confession to be made.

France was still pretty cold when I left, but in LA we are having a beaituful spring, birds singing and flower blooming. 1/4 of 2013 has been gone, and it is time to practice for next performances.