Bremen town musicians

Yes Ma, I have now seen the Bremen town musicians... and here they are!

'Furies' in rehearsal

Julien, our sound man, took these pictures in rehearsal before our last show in Frankfurt.

Main river Frankfurt

MD in Frankfurt

Here is part of the company in the "historical" centre of Frankfurt. These buildings are replicas of the old buildings that were bombed in the war.

With me in the picture are Annik, Maryse, Benoît, Fred and Casey (Dominic is taking the picture)

Home in Frankfurt

This is home in Frankfurt. The Mousonturm building houses our apartments as well as the theatre, the rehearsal studios and a bar/restaurant. We hardly have to go outside! Casey and I have the orange apartment. As you can see, everything that can be orange is, from the bath mats to the cutlery and from the key to the nail brush in the bathroom. These Germans have a very thurough sense of organization!

Our first show here went very well last night. We had a sold out house and we had a very enthusiastic response. 

Good bye Spain

This is our last look at palm trees and the last possibility of summer clothes for some months to come!

Jerez

Another magnificent and ancient and multi-layered Adalucian town.

Home in Seville

I just counted, once the almost seven weeks of this tour are over I will have slept in 12 different rooms! So far the bed that wins the least comfortable prize was in Birmingham and the most comfortable would be here in Frankfurt. Pictures to follow soon.

Cordoba

Cordoba was lovely and calm after the business of Seville. This is the orange garden outside the famous Mesquite of Cordoba.

Traveling companion

Casey has been a marvelous traveling companion throught this trip. What do travelers do most together? Eat of course! Here is Casey on four different "terasses" in Seville and Cordoba.

Seville

Here are is a selection of pictures for my day in Seville.

At the Plaza de Espagna, already feeling nostalgic about my time in Cadiz!

The real Alcazar. This is the palace where the real Spanish royalty live... at least when they are in Seville.

The cathedral of Seville is a cacaphonic affaire as we discovered are many of the churches in the south of Spain. Most of them are built out of the remains of mosques that were there when the christians took over in the 12th century and then added to through the next centuries. It is as if they have never really figured out what they want to be.

What is Spain without the terasse in every plaza?

This is a procession that we happened onto in our first night in Seville. There was a very large marching band, dozens of candle holders, an immense cross, and this bedangeled bed with the crucified Jesus on top. We tried to find out what the special occasion was but all that we could gather was that it was some church's procession. They seem to do them quite often. It is different to be in a country where religion still plays a big part of people's lives.

Routine du matin

Les matins se suivent et se ressemblent souvent dans la maisonnée de la rue Fabre. Quand la maman n'est pas là, c'est papa qui amènent les petites à leurs école et garderie respectives. Lily doit arriver à 8h10 à la maternelle sans faute, tandis qu'Alice peut arriver n'importe quand avant 9h30 à sa garderie Les Ateliers. On met donc la priorité sur les préparatifs de Princesse Lily, qui doit être habillée, nourrie et coiffée prestement. Les cheveux de Lily ayant beaucoup poussé récemment, on peut maintenant lui faire une couette de cheval, comme celle que Gabriela lui fait ici (vous ne trouvez pas que Lily ressemble fichtrement à sa mère avec les cheveux attachés comme ça?).

Plus souvent qu'autrement, Papa amène Alice avec elle pour reconduire Lily à son école et ils enchaînent ensuite tous les deux vers la garderie. Mais parfois, comme sur la photo du haut, ils décident de faire un petit retour à la maison pour jouer encore un peu ou terminer une oeuvre en cours, avant de se rendre à Les Ateliers pour la journée...

Plaza de la Catedral - Cadiz

We are in a different land!

Trees in Cadiz

What a strange collection of trees we saw in Cadiz! I will have to bring a tree book along to identify them next time. Many of them were so big that they were not easy to photograph. Here are a few. If anyone knows what they are I would love to know. 

Hotel Francia y Paris - Cadiz

Here is our "home" in Cadiz. It is a very grand building right in the middle of the old town and the festival tough we discovered that the insides left something to be desired!

Show in Cadiz

We have an eventful show last night! After all of us getting here with all the effort that that involved, not to mention the work on the show it's self, we almost had to cancel because Pilar was very sick. She managed to make it through just about all the piece with only one emergency exit! The audience did not know that anything was wrong. It made for a very attentive spirit on the stage.

Arriving in Jerez

Here we are, four intrepid travelers (Me, Casey, Karine, Ben) emerging into the Spanish south. We managed to make it with all our bags from Bilbao to Barcelona and from Barcelona to Jerez. Here we are waiting for a bus that will take us to the train that will take us to Cadiz. We discovered that the European discount airlines are not designed for people who are traveling with a month's worth of belongings as well as light and sound equipment and sets and costumes. Or at least we discovered how these companies make their money!!

Lily's flu: a special kind of H1N1?

Lily has stayed home for the last two days and will remain here tomorrow too because she came down with some fever in her class on Monday. But as always, her symptoms were extremely short-lived (no more fever yesterday and today) and she remains her joyful self through it all. Is it a regular flu or the new H1N1 variety? I have no idea, but all I can say is that her Happiness is at Level 1 and her Niceness is at prime level 1 as well...!

Basque cuisine

Here I am (as Eric asked asked for more pictures of me), venturing into the more exotic basque cuisine. We had bacalau pil pil, which is cod soaked in olive oil, and squid in it's own black ink and pig's feet! All was remarkably tasty though I would not eat it every day.

Theatre in Bilbao

Here is La Fundicion, where we performed in Bilbao, a very tiny space that was crammed to the limit both on and off stage. It was too bad that we didn't have an extra show or two as they had to turn away many people at the door.

Back in Bilbao

Here I am , back in Bilbao (the famous Guggenheim in the background). It is rare and very nice to come back to the same place two years in a row! It feels a little like coming home. All I need is my family!!!

Fabre Street Philosophy Club

In preparation for the upcoming visit of Professor Cole Harris, two great philosophers are joining minds in trying to reach the ultimate truth about cookies and time. First truth: Gabriela's oatmeal cookies rock! Another great truth is captured in the following irrefragable dialogue:

"Demain, c'est aujourd'hui" -- Prof Alice Maharishi Taillefer

"Hier, aujourd'hui c'était demain" -- Prof Lily Descartes Taillefer

Fabre Street Yoga Club

Like mother, like daughter. Lily gives her sisters a yoga class with the postures she learned in kindergarten (and some of her own invention!).

Thank you, Meo !

Thank you, Meo, for the lovely cut-out dolls book from Hawaii ! Lily and I have been playing with our two paper dolls over and over since it arrived by the mail.
Here's a drawing I made of YOU, Meo, at my daycare. (the black dot is the belly button and the squares are boxes and treasures!)