Leslie Lewis et Gérard Hagen "Bonjour de Paris" 30 August 2015

Bonjour de Paris ...

Chers Amis,

 We are back in Paris after spending the last sixteen days working at L'Hermitage and the Hotel Royal in La Baule on the west coast of France. It was a nice opportunity to mix work and play. Truthfully it was more play and less work. Leslie and I spent afternoons on the beach. The nights we weren’t working we stayed with our friend Lois at her summer home. Lois had other friends coming and going during the time we were there so there was an interesting combination of new people to get to know and friends we knew from Paris and London. On our off nights we would BBQ and stay up late talking. Leslie wanted to rent bikes, which we did. The bikes brought a new set of challenges. It had been many years since I had ridden. I know that most people easily ride after staying off a bike for a long time.  I thought this would be the same for me. The first clue that I might have a problem was when I fell down just walking along the street one afternoon even before we had rented the bikes! The result was that I banged up my knee. The next day I managed to wipe out while riding the bike and landed on the same knee.  After that things got much better and we enjoyed riding along the coast, or just pedaling to buy groceries. I am still nursing my knee back to some form of health. All in all it was a very nice way to spend a few weeks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 L'Hermitage Hotel, La Baule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Hotel Royal, La Baule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our home away from home for much of July and August.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leslie waiting for the train back to Paris.  One of many trips this summer.

We have hit the ground running since returning to Paris. The weather has been pretty dreary with overcast skies and rain. But other than disrupting a few afternoon walks we haven’t been affected too much.

The memories of the sunny skies in La Baule seem to have stayed with us to keep our spirits up. We have just finished a six night run in our first week back. Next week we are doing five nights and the following week we travel to N.Y.C. for four days. We are really looking forward to working with Allan Molnar, my former college roommate and current NYC resident. We were able to add a free day so we can see some family and friends. My nephew has worked his way up in the world of “Apple” and is currently working for them in Manhattan, so we will have a chance to see him in his new environment (he is a life-long California guy). Plus a dinner with Anne, Hy, Diana, Tony et.al., our New Jersey “family”,  will round out what should be a nice few days.

When we get back to Paris we begin rehearsals for a “Cotton Club” show in Serris, FR (just outside of Paris) on Sept. 19th followed by a concert on Sept. 20 at the Jazz En Touraine festival in Montlouis-sur-Loire, FR.  http://www.jazzentouraine.com 

The end of Sept. should be quite a bit more quiet with some days off and no traveling for work.

We have more travel in the works for October and November but more on that later. The important news for our CA friends is that we will be in L.A. in early December. Things are still not settled as far as performance dates but as soon as we have confirmed dates we will let you know. But we are coming! 

Until next time,

Leslie and Gerard  

Please if you have any comments feel free to contact me at <gerard@surfcovejazz.com>.  I enjoy hearing your thoughts. This email also appears on our website where you may comment as well.  http://www.surfcovejazz.com/blog/

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