Memories that will last forever

There's something about large, international camps that requires a representative amount of planning and preparation to the scale and size of the camp, yes?

For me, I spent the last full week before GMC2010 gallavanting around Paris with our school choir and orchestra. I know, really prepared here.

So, a group of really cool kids, 48 of us, including teachers, aged from year 8-year12s and 4 amazing staff (including my Father... LOL) set off from Durham train station at 7:12 am to go to Kings Cross in London. We then got on the exciting Eurostar to Paris-Nord from St.Pancr(e)as and that was FUN... with 4 'cellos and a tuba in our large group. Travelling with them was just crazy. I had to carry: a suitcase, a large backpack, a clarinet and a stand, because everyone else had already booked their small student who was both instrument and stand-less to carry their aforementioned paraphernalia , leaving me to carry all of my stuff myself. In 34 degree heat. I was melting. Goodness only knows how I am going to cope in Canada! I did manage to cope though, it didn't make me faint like some of the little ones on stage.

More on that later.

The traffic in Central Paris was unbearable. Seriously, you have to see it to believe it! It took us 4 hours to get from Central Paris to our centre one day. Anyway, we were staying in a strange little centre called Le Bois le Roix (Forest of Kings XD) and when we got there late on Monday evening, our pasta dinner had sort of...congealed. Into huge clumps of pasta and unidentifiable meat product. We ate it reluctantly and trotted off to bed.

THEN WE WOKE UP AND WENT TO DISNEYLAND! Oh no, not just to experience the soul crushing plastic exteriors and thrill-seeking rides, but to PERFORM on the Fantasyland Stage as part of their Disney Music Days thing! This is where our four young performers fainted. All things considered, it was over 30 degrees C and there were sweltering lights on the stage. They did well not to be totally konked out by the whole experience!

Then we went and did stuff like this for the rest of the day:

Wednesday consisted of a concert in a beautiful area of Paris, inside the Château Saint Germain au Laye . Here's me really getting into singing something, probably the Eva Cassidy arrangement of Over The Rainbow, which one of our teacher's, Miss Huppertz, sat and cried through. I found it really hard not to do the same.

Thursday was our final concert, in a bandstand in the Jardins du Luxembourg, which were seriously glorious. We then wandered around the Sacre Coeur for just under an hour. After an exhausting coach journey and a tremendously weird last meal, we all had an amazing time out on the field playing frisbee, catch, punch-catch, football, and the best bits were the leaps of faith. I shall not disclose pictures, because frankly, what happened in Paris, (should) stays in Paris!

We coached and Eurostar-ed it back to England on Friday, and we gained an hour, so I had a sleep in :D I had to go to band early in the morning of Saturday though, to go to a meeting about a Germany concert tour next summer! I AM ALREADY EXCITED FOR THAT!

There are a heck of a lot more pictures, but I don't want to bore you.

I packed up most of the clothes I want to take with me for Canada yesterday, and they alone take up 17kg of my 20kg weight limit for luggage. I am going to have to pack a LOT lighter.

I think I've sorted SWAPS as far as I can now... it's only a matter of 4 days now!

CRAZY!

(Sorry for not sounding quite as coherent in this post, I'm very busy and I keep getting distracted in the middle of sentences)

Stay adventurous,

Haze