An American in Paris

In my recent trip to the City of Lights (June 24-28, 2019), the weather was starting to warm up as summer was fast approaching. After our very successful concert and workshops in London, Belle and I boarded the EuroStar from St. Pancras International station. The train was delayed for almost an hour, so I decided to eat my burger from Jollibee, thanks to some Haraya members who saw us off. The train reached an amazing speed of at least 230 miles per hour, crossing the English channel underwater. After 2 and half hours we finally arrived at Gare du Nord. It was hot and humid! We grabbed some soda and shakes to refresh ourselves and took the RER A to Poissy.

I stayed with Belle who has been living in France for many years now with her kids at their cute apartment is Poissy, west of Paris. She works as a translator and gigs with professional musicians around town. Her daughter Angeli plays the violin and is my goddaughter.

Day two, we stayed home the whole day to catch up with sleep and rest after our successful concert in London. As the day slowly came to an end, we decided to take the kiddos to early dinner at my favorite restaurant: Léon De Bruxelles-Champs Elysees. In my opinion, they serve the word's best steamed mussels. I couldn't remember how I finished the whole bucket, but it was so satisfying. I strongly recommend this place. Here's the address and link: 63 Avenue des Champs Elysées, 75008 Paris. https://restaurants.leon-de-bruxelles.fr/fr/s/moules-frites/champs-elysees/36001

After seeing the kids off, Belle and I headed our way to St. Bernadette Catholic Church, where we were warmly welcomed by the Monsignor, conductor Mark Vergara and Nash with the PCM Family and Youth Choir, two local Filipino church choirs. The two choirs sounded really good! Mark and Nash have done a really great job developing their talents and guiding them. 'Monsi' treated us to to dinner after the workshop at a nearby cafe.

The next day, Belle treated me to a sumptuous lunch at La Crêperie Bretonne. It's a family-owned traditional restaurant. Here's the address and link: 53 Rue du Montparnasse, 75041 Paris-- https://la-creperie-bretonne.com/

It was heaven! Oh, by the way, that gelato across the street way delish!

We arrived at the workshop (still full from our late lunch) venue near La Madeleine to meet up with Ms. Cherie-David Bautista and the CEC St. Paul Choir. Members were a mix of youth and adult singers who barely had formal training in music. The younger male singers sounded like their voices had just transitioned to adulthood.

On my last day, we were invited by Mimi, a common friend of ours to her house for dinner that evening. We started the day after lunch, braving our way to the city through heatwave. We decided go to Notre Dame Cathedral (Belle has not seen the church since the fire) only to find out that entry inside the church was off limits. However, we were able to snap some phots in the surrounding area and the river.

Thank you Belle for organizing the workshops and playing paparazzi! It was so much fun! See you next summer.

(to be continued)