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Paris Tour 2002
In October 2002, the boys and men
undertook a 5 day trip to Paris. Below is a description
of what the tour entailed, as well as some pictures from the tour.
To see the pictures in full size, please click on them!
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5am
on the 30th
October saw the Cathedral Choir gathered together in the rain to
begin our latest foreign adventure. After the difficulties with the
coach last year, it was a very pleasant surprise to be greeted by
the smiling figure of Bob the driver and a shiny brand-new coach,
albeit from a different company! All went without mishap, and we
arrived in a somewhat warmer
Paris
shortly after
7pm
.
Whilst
staying in Paris, we were booked into the
Hotel Étap, situated in the pleasant suburb of St Mandé, just off
the Pérépherique. The rooms slept two in quite reasonable comfort,
and the hotel staff were very welcoming. Most of the party went for
dinner at a local restaurant, who were surprised, but nevertheless
delighted to welcome another 40 paying diners! The boys then retired
to bed, whilst the gentlemen of the choir went in search of erudite
discourse, gentle conversation, and perhaps une petite bière!
Our first singing engagement was a concert given at the Madeleine
church on Thursday afternoon, prior to their Anticipatory Mass of
All Saints. This large society church is constructed very much in
the manner of a
Greek
Temple
(or Birmingham
Town Hall
for the less
romantically-minded.) It is located about 400 yards from the bottom
of the Champs Elysées, just off the Place de la Concorde. The choir
stood at the east end of the church, with the choir organ being used
to accompany the pieces. The concert was in two halves, the two
sections being separated by some pieces for mens voices and two
organ solos, played on the grand organ at the west end of the
church. This involved the writer having to go outside, run the
length of the church in cassock, emerge at the west end, struggle
with a very temperamental door, climb five flights of dimly-lit
spiral staircase, and immediately play a solo piece as though this
sort of activity was the most normal in the world! Still, despite
all that, the concert was warmly received, and we were delighted to
welcome the Dean to the concert, who joined us, with Jenny, for a
few days.
Following
the concert, we departed for a boat trip on the
Seine, and the boys were able to
get a sense of the layout of Paris, as well as some splendid
views of the various sights. Prior to the concert, the boys had
visited Monmartre, the Sacre-Coeur basilica, climbed the Arc de
Triomphe, and walked down the Champs Elysées to the church.
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Friday
was our free day, and the majority of the party departed for the
worldly delights of Disneyland Paris. The park was exceedingly busy,
All Saints Day being a national holiday in France, but despite this, a lot of
fun was had by the boys, and even some of the adults found it to be an
experience. Following our full day there, the boys once more retired
in one direction, whilst the gentlemen retired in another!
Saturday
was set aside for shopping in the morning, so naturally enough, it
rained. The boys were taken to the Pompidou Centre and the shops at
Les Halles, which regrettably didn’t provide many purchasing
opportunities for the party – choristers not being desperately
interested in haute couture. Amends were made later with a visit to
the market at the bottom of the
Eiffel
Tower, providing opportunities for
funny hats, keyrings and assorted toys.
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The
main event in the afternoon was the rehearsal in Notre-Dame for the
Mass on Sunday. We were extremely fortunate to be allowed to perform
the Langlais Messe Solennelle in its original scoring for two organs.
We were joined by one of the Notre-Dame titulaires, Phillipe Lefebvre,
on the enormous (and frighteningly loud) west end organ, whilst the
writer played the choir organ (itself the size of a decent church
organ here!) However, there was a slight hiccup when the organ at the
west end started playing another mass by Langlais. After much Gallic
shrugging and some fairly rapid negotiation, M. Lefebvre agreed to
sight read the right Mass, and a fine job he made of it too! Once the
distance difficulties had been overcome (the west end organ was 400
yards away and 75 feet above the choir!) the rehearsal passed well.
The boys went off to eat near the hotel, whilst the gentlemen ate
together in the Latin
Quarter.
Some of us had been invited up to the organ loft for the Saturday
evening Mass, an unforgettable experience. M. Lefebvre was utterly
charming, and treated us to a dazzling display of improvisation. The
evening was spent packing, whilst the gentlemen found yet more to talk
about over cocoa and other beverages(!)
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Sunday
morning dawned bright, and after checking out of the hotel, we made
our way back to Notre-Dame. We had a few moments, so we passed those
taking photos (see above), and each of the boys was presented with a
black beret in honour of the occasion. No stripy jumpers or onions
were spotted though! The Mass started at 11.30, and we were
considerably surprised to see more than 3000 people in the nave. The
singing was excellent, and we were treated to a round of applause
after the mass, before M. Lefebvre improvised a sortie on “God Save
the Queen!” Following that, it was time to pack up the bus, and make
our way home, which we did without incident, arriving back at the
cathedral on the stroke of
midnight. It was a thoroughly
enjoyable trip for all concerned, and we are very grateful to our
helpers, supporters and parents for enabling us to plan events such as
these, which do so much for team building, and promoting Sheffield
throughout the world.
Story
by Peter Heginbotham
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