at a Chambres d'Hôtes in Le Bailleul, France

sunflowers - taken from car window

huge kitchen that was
once that of a priory

La Croix Verte, the B&B

      It's an overcast, occasional rain kind of day, perfect for sitting in the huge kitchen of our Chambres d'Hôtes (B&B) in Le Bailleul, France, absorbing the past couple of weeks, give or take, driving around the western half of France. It's nice to have some time to just sit and reflect instead of the seemingly constant motion of one night stands (constant motion except for several-mile long traffic jams—two of them).

flute player - left
tenor - holding flowers

soprano in red,
flute player on right

      We are stopping here for two nights to attend the Baroque music festival in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, France. Last night was a program of music and songs from the Baroque period (17^th Century) music of Jean-Philippe Rameau, a French composer entitled Amour, a mort—a kind of reflection on love and death. We had a bit of a struggle fighting with one-way streets to find the venue, but all came out fine in the end. The period orchestra called Amaryllis was superb, especially the flute player. Between the soprano and the tenor, the tenor was the more outstanding--passionate with a beautiful lyrical quality to his voice. The soprano, alas, was a little weak in comparison and a little too haughty to be passionate. Still, she was more than adequate, just not as stunning as the tenor.

in the audience for Amour, a mort!

      Planning to do lunch at a highly touted restaurant nearby, then listen to some Gregorian chant doing Vespers at a nearby abbatial church. In the evening we return to the festival hall for a concert version of Elena (it's an opera about Helen of Troy, the famous ancient beauty whose face sank a thousand ships) by Italian composer Fracesco Cavalli.

      Tomorrow we drive to Orly Airport in Paris to fly to Venice, Italy the following day.