Le Festival Des Musiques Du Novel An a Paris!

We got a chance to sleep in a little late this morning (needed it after last night) and had breakfast around 9:00 am with some free time in the morning.  Unfortunately, the mall across the street was closed except for McDonald's that opened at 11am.  Several chaperone groups went to get a late morning meal and found it about the same as McDonald's back in the U.S.  Fries were less salty and sauces were a little different.  Most shops and  cafes were closed due to the holiday.  No matter, one chaperone group found their way via metro to a cafe for a hearty french breakfast experience.  The rest of us enjoyed some downtime before packing up on buses for our final musical performance in Paris.  We left the hotel around 1:00 pm and arrived at the assembly area near the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero, our performance location.  Our students changed into uniforms before we left the hotel.  They had a chance to warm-up in front of thousands of spectators at the Trocadero including our Cheerleader friends from yesterday's parade and were staying at the same hotel.

The parade began at 2:30 pm with a group from China that included a 120 piece marching band and a dance ensemble performing a traditional Chinese piece.  Next was our Rancho Cucamonga Marching Cougar band playing "Hot, Hot, Hot" as they entered the performance area.  Since the weather was cloudy and in the low 40's, we needed this to heat us up!  (Videos posted)  The first piece performed was, "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang and the second piece performed was, "Jump, Jive an' Wail" by Louis Prima and performed by the Brian Setzer Orchestra.  Notice that our band members got a chance to dance and stay warm during the performance.  Looks like we have quite a few musicians that can dance and keep a beat!  Trumpet solos by Kyle Martinez.  The Audience really enjoyed our "California" style!  Notice how the announcer voice says, "Rancho Cucamonga!" in our video.  (At no time did we follow sheep during this performance)

We ended our performance and marched to our warm awaiting buses.  We arrived back at the hotel around 4:00 pm and had a meeting detailing the rest of the evening and following day activities.  From this time forward, chaperones and students are have free time to eat, shop, visit several cultural and historic places in Paris, eat, shop, and ride the metro around the city.  Cindy Smit gave details on the chaperone groups as many of our students decided to switch activities for Wednesday.  All participants will be able to visit the Louvre Museum and also one other attraction.  Chaperones were given the appropriate number of Metro passes and meal tickets for Wednesday's free day of sightseeing.  Parents and students were given more information about their flights home and how this will work with two groups departing.  Sally Larsen will head the first group home on Thursday and Mr. Shuler will be in the second group.

Sophie Higgins, our tour resource person, provided each of our participants and special medallion for participating in this year's event.   Sophie was read a special thank you note, in French, by student Zach Johnson (Tuba) and we presented her a special thank you, one of our 2007 RCMC Show T-Shirts with "The Flight" and the Eiffel Tower on the back.  Here she stands smiling.

We had dinner at 7:00 pm, however, several of our chaperone groups decided to use the metro to experience more authentic french food.  Approximately, 20 students and parents decided to go ice skating in Paris as an extra activity this evening.

A very exciting day for our students and parents.  Excellent performance and now some free time to enjoy everything Paris has to offer.  Wednesday is a free day and students with travel with their chaperone groups and have a great day of sightseeing!

*** More pictures and videos of our performance posted on this website.  Enjoy!

Rob Smit