After an inspiring and uplifting weekend in Bonn, Germany, where I met great Latvian friends, sang my little heart out, I decided that it was finally time to get my violin tuned up! Peter had so generously brought it over from the States to me in France...I had gotten a few jams with it, but then it lost its tuning...so what better place to go to than Mirecourt, not too far from Gerardmer and full of violin shops!
So Friday night, after work I set off to Mirecourt. I had gotten in touch with another teaching assistant that I had met in November, Stephanie, who is placed in Mirecourt and she was going to be in town for the weekend and even better- was invited to a party by a few of the students who attend the violin making school! GREAT! I arrived, dropped off my stuff in her apartment (nice to see how other assistants live! Gotta say, we've got it pretty good in Gerardmer- mostly because we don't have any fussy neighbors!) The theme for the party was "Countries"... I obviously went as Latvia, as that was all I could scrounge up in short notice for any attempt of a costume. Stephanie decided to go in Greek garb. The hosts of the party were flight attendants for "Air Coloc" (Colocotaire is roommate in French, awe, cute). Most of the other party-goers were dressed in Egyptian/middle eastern themes. One girl had made a funny sign "Get out Mubarak!" in light of the events going on in Egypt the past few weeks. The party was full of energy- dancing (to some straaaange music), eating and drinking. The apartment was beautiful and even had a violin workshop next to the living room! A table saw, wood, the works! Pretty cool that these 20-somethings (many of them FEMALE) were studying the art of violin making.
The next morning we got up at a respectable hour to go to the violin shop, which I had already contacted earlier in the week, to drop off my violin and get it tuned. The man was very welcoming and got to work right away on my little violin, despite many interruptions by other customers, etc! We watched for a bit as he took out each peg and covered it first with soap (from Marseille) and then chalk, so it would hold better. It was quite shocking for me how roughly he handled the instrument. I'm usually over-cautious.
While the violin was in the shop, Stephanie showed me around Mirecourt... not that there was much to see! Many, many violin shops, a river and ... that's pretty much it! After a refreshing loop we popped back in for the violin and of course, the shopkeeper made a point to oversell- I need a new bridge, this should be fixed, that should be improved. Oh, thank you. One day, yes. Right now I just want it tuned! And 15 Euros later, we left with a beautifully tuned up violin! :)
That afternoon we lucked out that there was an open house at the violin school: Ecole Nationale de Lutherie. The students were in their workshops shaving away meticulously at their masterpieces. SO MANY VIOLINS! WOW! The program is about three years- each year completing more than one instrument. The students learn to make violins, violas, and even cellos! The program also makes them learn how to play instruments, so at the end of the day there was a short concert by the students themselves.
It was a greatly inspiring trip. I was amazed to see such dedicated young people learning a real trade- something so specific! These days we're all about being able to do everything and that "arts & sciences" education has dissolved the traditional idea of developing a specific skill set. I really admire them for their work!
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