A European Tour Odyssey

Part 2 - Paris

By Douglas Yeo, Bass Trombone with the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Sunday, March 22, 1998; Paris

Eiffel TowerWhen I awoke at 11 am today, the sun was out in Paris, a welcome relief from the clouds of the last few days. I went for a brisk walk around the Eiffel Tower having decided against spending the day at the Louvre museum. I have been there many times and Sunday is always a crowded day (children are free at the Louvre on Sundays). I decided a day of rest would be more productive than a day of running around, so after checking out one last tourist trap where I at last found some posters for my daughter's French teacher's classroom, I headed back to the room to spend time reading my Bible and answering a backlog of e-mail.

I managed, by the way, to get a proper adapter for my computer so it is happily recharging as I write this. Next time, when I think I have everything I will need, I'll check again. The old rule of carpentry, "Measure twice, cut once" applies when it comes to computers as well!

Just when you think you have the hotel scene figured out on tour, a new wrinkle erupts. I have a routine by which I bring food from home to eat for breakfast - the same every day, very basic but it works: crackers, peanut butter, jelly, prunes and powdered, skimmed milk. Each night I make up the milk for the next day in a container I bring along for that purpose and put the cheese and milk in the mini-bar located in most hotel rooms (a bucket of ice works for those rare occasions when there is no mini bar). In order to make room for my things, I take out a few things from the mini-bar and put them on top of the refrigerator so the hotel knows I'm not using the items, but are simply moving them around.

I happened to be flipping through the TV checkout feature to determine if this hotel had been charging me a surcharge on my 800 number e-mail phone calls to AT&T (they are not, unlike the hotel in London which charged you 1.50 pounds in order to make a "free" call) and I saw to my amazement that I had been charged over $100 for minibar items! A trip to the front desk informed me that in this particular "high-tech" minibar, whenever you remove an item from it's place in the fridge, the cost of that item is automatically added to your bill! So, with a can of Diet Coke costing 25 francs (about £2.50=$4.00), it was easy for things to add up on my bill when I took things out to make room for my milk and cheese! The clerk at the desk removed the charges and I learned something new - "Big Brother" just may be lurking in your mini-bar - beware!

That actually reminds me of a true story of a BSO colleague who many years ago, when mini-bars first became common in hotels. Confronted with a lovely selection of drinks including miniatures of vodka and gin, beer, champagne as well as soda and other snacks, he enthusiastically drank everything in his fridge, oblivious to the fact that he would have to pay for it later - he thought it was all free! The hotel clerk in his case was less forgiving than mine was and he learned a lesson he never forgot...

The serpent saga continues. What is happening is, at the moment, highly confidential (there are some things you don't even tell your diary!). If all goes well I will tell you about it tomorrow. However, to swing it will require a small miracle. Bissonnet's shop opens at 9 and I must be back at the Paris Hilton and on the bus with the BSO to Charles de Gaulle Airport at 10:15 - my hotel is at the Eiffel Tower, Bissonnet's shop is on the opposite side of town near the Picasso Museum. I phoned and faxed Bissonnet (who is away for the weekend in Provence) and told him I will stop by tomorrow right at 9 am, but who knows what will happen. If it works out, all is well and (but still unanswered: How am I going to get this serpent around with me on the rest of the tour, to Vienna, Munich and Athens?!), but if it can't happen, well, c'est la vie!

I did a bit of practising, wrote postcards and essentially loafed around all day - not a bad idea given that a number of my colleagues are sick and worn out from the first week of the tour. It's bad enough that you don't sleep and eat right, but if you spend all your time sightseeing, sooner of later your body (and your chops) say STOP! and give out. Taking reasonable precautions in cities where you have visited many times before is more than sensible, it is essential.

Several weeks ago, I had contacted Michel Godard, a French tuba and serpent player who I have known through his many serpent and tuba recordings as well as videos taken of his playing at several early music festivals. We had arranged to meet tonight for dinner at 8:00 pm as he was out of town for the last few days and was coming right from the airport to meet me at my hotel.

Michel is a wonderful character and an excellent musician, one of the most creative people I've ever heard and met, and it was so nice to "talk serpent" with the person who certainly must be the world's most accomplished serpentist. He has a dozen recordings to his credit on both tuba (he is also a Yamaha artist - although Yamaha has yet to make a serpent!) and serpent. He has three serpents that he uses - a modern Monk instrument, a Baudouin and one by an unnamed maker he recently bought from Bissonnet.

Arc de TriompheWe drove to a nice restaurant near the Arc de Triomphe and halfway during dinner, Michel gave me five of his recordings including his newest one that features him on tuba and serpent, Linda Sharrock on vocals, and Wolfgang Puschnig on alto saxophone and flute. This I have to hear. Even more interesting is an album he gave me featuring Rabih Abou-Khalil (from Lebanon) on the Middle Eastern instrument the oud, Howard Levy on harmonica, Mark Nauseef on drums, Nabil Kahaiat on frame drums and Michel on tuba and serpent. He has just completed a new project in Japan for serpent, trumpet marine and voice. He has to be one of the most eclectic artists I know, and one who has great English, can tell a great story and knows how to pick a good wine! After a chocolate cake that surpassed any dessert I have ever had, we said goodbye before I came to my room to send off the day's e-mail and toddle into bed. Tomorrow is Vienna, and many prayers are being said tonight for many things; thank God for my wonderful wife whom I spoke with yesterday and today, and perhaps all will work with Bissonnet tomorrow. We'll see, you'll know tomorrow night...

And there was morning and evening, the eighth day.

A European Tour Odyssey - Part 3 ››

Douglas Yeo joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as bass trombonist in 1985 after holding the same position with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 1981-1985. He holds degrees from Wheaton College (Illinois) and New York University, and is the author of over 30 articles about the trombone and music in general; he teaches at Boston University and New England Conservatory of Music.

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