Written by Zach Ewing, ’23
Frankly, it has been a long one. To say nothing of how much we enjoyed the day, I have little to no interest in writing this blog on the ride to Paris. We are likely to arrive at our hotel a little before midnight, staggering, completely exhausted into our beds. So I would honestly rather get an extra hour of sleep before another long day tomorrow, but I still will do my best to recount the events of our day.
The day began only a little later than usual, with the increasingly annoying wake up buzzer rousing us at 7:30. After another near identical, but still pleasant breakfast, the students finished packing their khakis into suitcases, sport coats onto hangers, and toiletries into plastic bags. As the clock approached 9:00 more and more suitcases found their way into the hotel lobby whether by a student awkwardly hobbling the case down the stairs, or the elevator smoothly whisking them down. All went smoothly, tuxedos packed neatly for the day, students in dress code, rooms checked, keys returned. With the help of our tour guide Bill, and driver Fred we loaded all of our luggage onto the bus. And with the most difficult of the morning executed to perfection, we were able to get on the road. Some students fell asleep, others became absorbed in their AirPods, and even more were consumed by their phones.
We arrived at the Jesuit school that would accommodate us for the remainder of the day, Institution Notre Dame Sain Francois. The school had a pretty amazing campus. Situated topographically above the City of Evreux, the buildings were beautiful, and the students were very welcoming. After a filling lunch of mashed potatoes, wax beans, and beef, with beure blanc, we made our way down to the City Hall of Evreux. The city is truly beautiful, and though it is only inhabited by 50,000 people there was something about the city that Ms. Winter articulated as Evreux being, “the first place we have went to that feels real.” While the other places we have been were beyond amazing, they felt like the way that a film director would portray France, the way that a tourist is intended to experience the country. Evreux, on the other hand, felt like a place that you could live, rather than somewhere you could simply visit. Accompanied by the boy’s and girl’s choirs of the Institution Notre Dame, we were able to perform in front of the mayor. While it was very difficult to top the performances of the choirs that preceded us, we sung quite well, singing three songs for the mayor before being invited down to the steps of City Hall to take a picture.
After the picture and some refreshments in city hall, we were granted some free time to take a look around the city and go shopping. The choir spread out throughout the city moving to whatever stores we found interesting before congregating in front of the river to bet on some ducks.
We eventually made the long trek back up hill to the Institution Notre Dame Sain Francois for a ping pong tournament and our final concert of the day. The concert was excellent; before getting our chance to sing we had the opportunity to listen to the boy’s and girl’s choirs. While I cannot speak for the other people in our group, I was truly moved by their singing, and it was truly some of the most beautiful live music that I have ever heard. Our concert went very well, maybe it was the pressure to perform just as well as the choirs that proceeded us, or it was the way their singing or the crowd inspired us, but regardless it was some of our best singing of the year. This was to say nothing of the joyous entertainment that was watching Michael attempt to translate Doctor Rozenberg to French.
After a somber goodbye from the students and phone lights waved through the dark, we left the school. The lights shrunk. Waving, smiling faces faded into the dark. A somewhat somber reminder that we are unlikely to see these people again passing through our minds. And as we drive further away we find ourselves where I began. Tired. Ready to sleep. Pretty good day. Good night….
BC High Concert Choir 