Paris

After a wonderful celebratory lunch with friends after my recital, and a celebratory evening with other friends, I finished packing my room. Tony and I left early the next morning for a weekend in Paris. As you do.

We stayed in a little hotel between St Germaine and the Latin Quarter. The driver we'd booked had no idea where the hotel was. Actually, he was very incompetant, but we eventually found the hotel and got settled. After lunch we went on a bus tour of the city.

After the bus trip we had a fantastic dinner overlooking Notre Dame. I got some roses, as I'd had to leave my gorgeous recital flowers in Newcastle. We wandered back to the hotel through teaming backstreets, stopping to hear a fantastic busker singing original songs.

The next morning we had plannd to climb the Eiffel Tower, but couldn't get to it as the surrounding streets were closed. We went instead to Montmartre and visited the Dali exhibition which was fantastic. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering the streets.

Recital

The week between handing in the dissertation and doing the recital was mad! Not only did I have rehearsals with my 4 accompanying musicians, seperately and together, but I also had to pack my room and ship excess baggage back to Australia. I also tried to show Tony around some of the local sites, although we did seem to see more of the gorgeous old pubs than anything else.

We did get to Jesmond Dene and Leazes Park (beautiful parks), the Newcastle castle and Durham Cathedral. Not bad for a week.

The recital itself went well. I had lots of friends come, which was so lovely. And a HUGE thank you to everyone who sent the gorgeous flowers!!!!!!!!! It was so exciting that so many people were supporting me.