Glittering reception in Paris

Sacre coeur!

LACO officials, board members and music director Jeffrey Kahane and his wife Martha were greeted by the US Ambassador to Paris in the ambassador's own fabulous mansion on the rue de Faubourg Saint-Honore the same day we arrived in Paris, Friday Mar. 7. The palatial home was for a time owned by the Rothschilds, until it was taken over by the Nazi's. The American government eventually bought it from the Rothschilds after they returned following the second world war. We got a tour, had wonderful hors d'oeuvres, and met some interesting supporters of the arts in Paris. Tonight, the orchestra tests its mettle (and brass) in the historic Theatre des Champs Elysee. Today was a day to shop, sightsee, get over the flu, and for me, return to some beloved neighborhood haunts from Parisian visits of decades ago: the Luxembourg gardens, for one, and the Place de Vosges. I walked for hours. A full report on the concert in a few hours!

Au revoir,

Giselle (my name in French class at Horace Mann Elementary School)