The week before we were to fly out to Europe was jam packed with activity! Preparations, gigs, teaching, etc. was absolutely consuming my days... Monday and Tuesday consisted of rehearsals with Temple Jazz Orchestra in Temple (about an hour drive from home).
Wednesday was jammed with teaching, Thursday was a rehearsal with Memphis Train for a wedding in Dallas on Saturday as well as teaching...
Friday night was a "Bon-Voyage" concert in Temple that we arranged to say "Thank You" to Scott & White for helping fund our tour.
Saturday was the drive up to Dallas, perform for the wedding till 12:30am, drive home and basically sleep for about 4 hours. We were to meet the group at the airport at 10am. I hadn't packed yet, so getting up at 7 was mandatory.
We were shot! Because of adrenaline and excitement, Anna and I were unable to sleep for most of the 1 hour / 9 hour flight (Austin - Houston / Houston to Paris)!
Once in Paris, it was 7:30Am, our tour group leaders told us all to NOT sleep... so our day was filled with activity from the moment we got off the plane.
One member (who shall remain nameless) left his passport in the seat pocket and forgot to grab it as we exited the plane in Paris. This delayed things by nearly 2 1/2 hours (lots of hurry up and wait). Then, we couldn't locate the bus that was to be our mode of transportation for the next 2 weeks. So, by 11am we were loaded on to the bus and on our way to a river tour in Paris. Beautiful sights as you can see above!
After the boat tour, we were once again dropped off (by the famous Opera House) for a 1 hour look-see. Tim Cates, Sparky Thomason, Anna and myself walked around and even stopped in for a tort.
Once we all got to the hotel, the temptation to lay down and sleep was extreme... but we persevered and went to have some mussells at a nearby street cafe - then found Tom (director of TJO) and walked to the Moulin Rouge. Dinner at 6:30pm with the group and then time to CRASH! No alarms for us!!!!
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