France Day 6: The programme comes together

The first part of today's rehearsal was spent running through each piece to get an idea of timings and to see how ready each piece was. We have decided to drop 'Ma Tante Aurore' by Boldlieu as it is too long (it would be short but we can't play it fast enough) but the regular Learning Orchestra players will do that next term in their weekly sessions. The wood wind were then allowed to leave as the strings had their own rehearsal. I went straight down to the pool and claimed one of the few remaining sun loungers. Only one or two of the other loungers had people on but the rest were all covered with towels. This has been a sore point for some as we have sat for an hour or two in the afternoon where people just haven't used their reserved loungers. The biggest suprise is that it is not the Germans doing this as there are no Germans in the hotel. We think it is probably the Belgians. After my swim I had lunch with some of the others then had a walk up to Goult with Radica, a viola player and lawyer. She really wanted an ice cream so we looked around the village and went in a few lovely shops. We saw the poster for our concert on doorways, noticeboards and in shops.

One of many posters around the village

Buildings in Goult

We stopped at the cafe I went to on Tuesday evening and ordered an ice cream. My white chocolate and caramel flavours were lovely and Radica had lemon sorbet and strawberry. We then looked inside the church where we will do the concert. It was quite small so it will probably be a bit of a squeeze on stage but it did have some impressive paintings and the shrines were lovely to view.

Church in Goult, The venue for Sunday's gig.

We made it back for a quick nap before the evening rehearsal. We worked through Ranelagh Gardens Suite by Hook which will open the concert then the strings were allowed to go while the woodwinds concentrated on Le Roi s'amuse by Delibes.

Highlight of the day had to be the evening meal which is in the running for the 'dinner of the week' prize. We're still not sure what the starter was (many things packed tightly together) but the main course was meat (beef, hopefully), a slab of polenta, a tomato with some sort of cream stuffing, and a poached pear. The vegetarians had the meat removed and an extra slab of polenta added. We are getting used to the odd combinations but this was one of the most bizarre meals I have eaten! I thought the French were highly regarded when it came to cuisine but not in this region. I then went with a large group for a herbal tea at the local cafe in Lumieres and we chatted until quite late. Gradually players are speaking more and more freely about how they think the course is going and all the little niggles that they have with some aspects. Generally though the atmosphere is extremely jovial and there is plenty of laughter. Tomorrow we give our first performance, an informal run through under the terrace in the dining area. A sure fire way to clear the dinner guests!

À tout à l'heure!