Roosevelt Jazz Band

We are in Aix-en-Provence this evening, and the kids are checked in and hopefully nodding off to sleep soon.

This AM, we had an early start from the very classic old world hotel in Montreux, beginning with a fabulous breakfast buffet and then a procession of suitcases down the stairs to the “Fancy Tour” bus.  Our route today included a minor deviation to give us  a more scenic experience, but when we got to the first small pass, rain and drizzle settled in until lunch, so we couldn’t really see anything anyway.  But after the lunch stop, the skies gradually cleared and the revealed views of Provence were striking.  We enjoyed a two-hour stop at an ancient fortress, the Chateau des Baux, built in the tenth century, and I noticed nearly everybody got an ice cream on the way back to the bus.

And during the bus ride, I prepared a couple more photo spreads:

Montreux, Day 1

Montreux, Day 2

What a different day of weather today!  Cool, with rain off and on.  Most of us spent a great morning at Chillon Castle,  a spectacular medieval castle on a rock in Lake Geneva.  The band played again on the same stage as yesterday, and there were a number of repeat  attendees!  There were little kids dancing in front of the stage, a woman in a head scarf swaying back and forth on a bench, and again an audience of a couple of hundred.  Halfway through the set, the heavens opened and the rain came down.  The umbrellas opened up, but almost nobody in the audience moved to leave.  Incredible!  And the band’s best performance yet.  Adrian, Chris, Noah, John and Brendan went down to the waterfront to “busk” and made about 35 francs.  They were joined by one woman who scatted with them, and one who danced.  The streets of Montreux are full of cars honking their horns in celebration of Spain’s win of the Euro cup tonight.  We are up and off early tomorrow for a long day on the bus–back to France and our stay in Aix-en-Provence.

This is out-of-order, but on the bus yesterday, I prepared some more photos showing our travel day and also the sightseeing in Vienne, up the hill and overlooking the ancient Roman theater and also in the Museum across the Rhone from the hotel.  The photo of Andy with the map was when we were in a long delay at Sea-Tac (and hour and growing at that moment) and we thought we might miss the connecting flight in Amsterdam.  But shortly after he got the map out, we got clearance to depart.

At this moment, we are in Montreux, and many of us just returned from visiting the castle down the road which was from the Baron Savoy which was really amazing and photos will follow soon.  The kids just caught the bus down to the venue to prepare for the 4pm performance.  Photos to follow in a day or two.  I also plan to collect some photos from Betsy and perhaps others and format and upload soon.

 Travel day and Vienne area photos.

Betsy checking in here.

After saying a fond goodbye to the town of Vienne this morning, we had a 3 hour drive through the lovely French and Swiss countryside, through terraced vineyards and beautiful valleys, and we arrived in the busy town of Montreux in time for lunch.  We are all a bit shocked by prices here as compared to Vienne!  The band played at 5 pm on a great stage in the park along the waterfront promenade on Lake Geneva.  There were people on the seats in front of the stage, at the beer gardens surrounding it, and sitting on the hillside grass beside the stage.  There had to be a couple hundred people listening, and the Roosevelt sound wafted out over Lake Geneva, and could be heard up and down the promenade.   The band sounded fantastic, and many kids are stepping up to solo.  People sitting around us said they were going to come back tomorrow to hear more.  As I write, the kids are meandering in from the promenade.  The lakefront promenade is set up with booths selling crafts and food, similar to Bumbershoot, but in the setting of a beautiful lake ringed with jagged mountains.  We are staying in an old hotel right in the center of the city with many rooms having balconies with lakefront views.  Another full day here tomorrow, with another performance on the same stage.

Last night we arrived at the massive Theatre Antique in time to catch the last 30 minutes of Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea.  We thought they were the headliners, but Richard Bona and his band came on second, even though they were in small font on the tickets.  Headliners go first here?  Or Chick and Bobby are not quite as big here?  We don’t know.  The festival organizers kindly came up with complimentary tickets for our entire group.

Those Romans sure built things to last.  Unlike, say, the KingDome, the public entertainment space in this town has stood about 1950 years.  With a long climb up and many “Excusez-mois,” we managed to squeeze into the few remaining spots on the upper tiers of the stone slabs.  The moon came up as we looked down on the stage, the town, and the Rhone in the distance.

Hello all, awesome day in France today, hot weather, Roman museum and excavation, a walking tour of the town, good French food, pastries, and espresso, and an extremely well received performance by the band at Les Apres Midi du Jazz venue (amongst some Roman ruins).  Andy and I estimated that about 250 attended, including some children on the grassy slope at stage right who immediately began dancing when the band first started playing.

I did a quick process and sort of some photos and have uploaded them here so you can see for yourselves!

Early start tomorrow as we head to Montreux with a performance in the early evening.

Hi Everyone,

After a long day of traveling, and few misadventures in the Amster-Damn Airport, we are happy to report that we are in our hotel on the banks of the Rhone.  Highlights of the day included meeting our enthusiastic guides Daniela and Johan, marveling at the U-turns of Andreas the busdriver, and dining on duck at Le Bec Fin (The Sharp Beak).  Off to bed.

Everyone got their boarding passes, checked their bags, and made it through security!  Kim, Bonnie and I are having one last Starbucks before heading to the gates.  The Doppler radar map at check-in made it look like it will be smooth sailing.  Hope so, clear blue skies in Seattle at least!

Wed June 27-28
Depart for Amsterdam at 6:10 pm via Delta flight DL 153
Transfer to Geneva at 2:50 pm on KLM flight KL 1931
Bus to Vienne, France, arrive in Vienne about 6:30 pm local time.

Fri Jun 29 @ Vienne, France
7:00 pm Performance on the Scène de Cybèle as part of the Jazz à Vienne Festival

Sat Jun 30 @ Vienne, France
Depart for Montreux, Switzerland
5:00 pm Performance on the Parc Vernex Stage as part of the Montreux Jazz Festival

Sun Jul 1 @ Montreux, Switzerland
4:00 pm Performance on the Parc Vernex Stage as part of the Montreux Jazz Festival

Mon Jul 2 @ Montreux, Switzerland
Depart for Aix-en-Provence, France, via Grenoble and Les Baux.

Tue Jul 10 @ Milan, Italy
Transfer by coach to Milan (Malpensa) airport
Depart on Delta flight DL 161 to New York (Kennedy) airport
12:55 pm Arrive at New York (Kennedy) airport
7:00 pm Depart on Delta flight DL 1643 to Seattle
10:39 pm Arrive at Seattle airport