Update - Music in Toulouse
After posting last weekend’s update, I realized that I had neglected to include a section that I had alluded to in my description of my daily routine. So, here it is - a few days late.
La Touche Doreé
Every day last week, I booked at least an hour at La Touche Dorée, a piano practice studio close to my Airbnb. I didn’t really know what to expect from this space, and I was delighted to discover a perfectly tuned Yamaha C3 grand in a well-appointed (though not air conditioned) studio. One of my persistent worries about traveling for so long was that I would need to give up my daily piano practice - a habit that has been with me since childhood.
So, this opportunity has been a breath of familiar but fresh air. Of course, I brought none of my books, scores, or other musical accessories, so my hour or two of early morning practice has been limited to pieces I already know by heart, improvisation, or listening to Spotify and trying my best to glean the chords and melodies of new songs. If anyone knows a library of free sheet music that I can access via my kindle, I’m all ears.
But even more, I’m grateful that this has given me a scheduled opportunity to be creative at the start of each day. Years of teaching have implanted within me a need for clear structure, and for a long time now it has been a truism of my day-to-day that a day that starts well goes well. Beseiged by jetlag, unfamiliar places, the occasionally maddening tendency for the French not to keep their posted hours of operation, and no rigid work schedule, starting a day well is easier said than done, so I’m thankful for anything I can write into my little book that increases those odds.
So who knows, maybe I’ll add “find a piano” to my new city checklist. It’s certainly a nice way to feel like myself in strange lands.
Mini-Update
Since the last writing, I have hiked Pech David, a charming series of trails at the southern tip of Toulouse. There’s much more to see there than my ill-equiped self could handle in a single afternoon, so I’ll go back later this week to explore a little more.
I’ve also spent more time on the other side of the river, in the much more modern neighborhoods of Zénith and la Cartoucherie, spending really nice evenings with Hannah and Camille, a couple who have quickly become my close friends (and even offered me their couch should I return to Toulouse!).
I hope all who read this are faring well, and I wish all my teacher friends a productive return to school! I can’t deny that my feelings towards the end of August are decisively different this year - a mix of sadness and excitement for the adventures to come. May your Expo markers never run dry, and may your classes be the good kind of talkative!
À très bientôt,
Ethan