France

The end of 2008 was even busier than most end-of-years because of all the planning and preparation involved with our month-long trip to Europe. There were also one or two other unusual things to squeeze in. One of the long-serving members of my 1st violin section in the MSO retired at the end of the year and a few of us decided it would be nice to have a 1st violin party mostly to farewell her but also just to get together outside work for a bit of group bonding. I volunteered our place and everybody brought food to share. The retiree is a Korean lady called Sook who's the one in a lavender satin top. It was a very nice occasion which also gave Peter the chance to catch up with Markus Tomasi, our other concertmaster from Salzburg whose mother's cottage in the Austrian Alps we were invited to use for a few days during our trip. They went over driving instructions etc.

Sophie and 5 other North Fitzroy kids have been diligently working away most Friday lunchtimes, tutored by yours truly, as the school String Ensemble (4 violins, 1 guitar and 1 cello). Towards the end of the year they had several performing opportunities during which they showed off their finely honed ensemble skills. They played for the old people's home up the road from school which of course went down a treat and they very impressively played a half-hour set on the main stage at the school fete, all beautifully accomplished and without a conductor. Their final fling (which really was their final fling because 3 of the violins were in Grade 6 and will move to secondary schools this year and there aren't any more likely candidates to replace them) was at the Grade 6 Graduation ceremony. They played very well and I got a huge bunch of flowers and a necklace from the graduating girls. I reciprocated
later with certificates and chocolates all round.

In the middle of all the end-of-year madness I escaped for a few days to Auckland where I was part of the preliminary judging panel for the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. I stayed with Barb and Dick but spent most of the time - 2 and a half days - in a room with my colleagues listening to 80 applicants on CD and whittling them down to the 18 who will be invited to the competition plus a short list of reserves. It was fun to hang out with 3 current and 1 ex concertmasters. On the last night we had a nice dinner with the Hills and a few of their friends during which we all scored watches.

My last night at work was the final concert for 3 MSO retirees, Sook from the 1sts, Rosia from the violas and Graeme, our Principal Horn and a good mate of Ed and Vicki. Between them they have given 100 years of service so it was a very moving and special occasion. I was sorry to have to leave almost straight after the concert but we had a flight to Paris leaving 3 hours after the concert finished. I changed, met up with Russell and Barb at the stage door and they walked me over to the ABC Centre where we usually rehearse and where we have our lockers so that I could stash my violin and concert gear then wait for the taxi van containing the rest of the family to sweep past and pick me up. It all went pretty much according to plan, amazingly.

We flew Cathay Pacific (not very flash) via Hong Kong where Sophie and I found her some good noodles (she didn't eat plane food much) then continued on Finnair (much better) to Helsinki and finally, Paris. After half an hour on a train we were at our Disneyland hotel in good time to get a decent sleep before our day at the park which went swimmingly, not so different from our day at the LA version several years ago except that the crowds and queues were much smaller - something to do with the -1C temperature!

The following morning we caught the train back to Paris and checked into our little hotel on the left bank before wandering about the neighbourhood. (Sophie doesn't really wear glasses but we went to a famous cafe that used to be frequented by literary types and intellectuals so she borrowed Peter's for effect.) Crepes with Nutella was just the beginning of a month-long obsession with the gooey brown stuff. That evening we had a chance to catch up with old friend Jeffrey Grice who invited us to dinner at his place in Montmartre. The girls were feeling the effects of the trip and crashed quite early - on Jeffrey's floor.

The following day, although the girls had been strenuously warned this was not a shopping trip, Peter thought we should check out the incredible Lafayette Galleries in one of the most beautiful retail therapy buildings I've ever seen. While we played, poor Peter had to catch the train back to Disneyland to retrieve his credit card which had been left in a restaurant at the park and Sophie's singular shoe which had been left under a bed at the hotel. Both had thankfully been found. Later that evening we visited the Louvre which I was setting foot in for the first time despite several short trips to Paris. The Mona Lisa gathered a small crowd around her but they quickly moved on and we had our own space right in front of her for quite a while. One advantage of traveling in winter was the relative lack of queues everywhere.

Unfortunately, after much dithering about where to eat on our second night in Paris and wandering about for quite a while checking out various places we finally ended up in a rather unsatisfactory dive. We didn't realise how unsatisfactory until later that night when Peter and Jessye were both throwing up violently pretty much all night long. The next morning Rosie, Sophie and I left the sickies to convalesce and sleep it off while we went for a stroll past Notre Dame and around the Ille St Louis, the little adjoining island. There were lots of very cute and exotic shops to peruse. We made our way across to Saint Chapelle which I'd been wanting the girls to see because of the amazing floor to ceiling windows but unfortunately the day was quite overcast so there wasn't really enough sun coming through to show the windows off at their best.

That afternoon Peter and Jessye were game to join us for an excursion to the Musee D'Orsay which was probably my Paris highlight. Such an amazing and easily accessible, clearly laid out display of wonderful and famous impressionist masterpieces. Prints just can't do them justice, especially some of Van Gogh's colours, not to mention textures. Jessye in particular was still quite under the weather but soldiered on. After all that art we rewarded ourselves with a nice cafe meal featuring the most delectable creme caramel.

This was our last night in Paris before catching a night train to Barcelona and so far we hadn't been up the Eiffel Tower. The weather in Paris had been generally overcast so we decided to save the tower for a night-time visit. It was magnificently lit in a brilliant blue with gold stars. We all went up to the second level and then Peter declined to push on to the top. Sophie shares his dislike of heights but she wasn't about to miss out so she grit her teeth and hung on for the spectacular lift ride. This warranted souvenirs. Next stop, Barcelona.

(Watch this space in a few days.)