Travelogue Europe: England

Traveling from Paris to London is a breeze these days, all one needs is a passport and a ticket aboard the high-speed train, the Eurostar. So taking advantage of a brief break from my musical adventures in France, we arrived at St. Pancras station in London and traveled to a lovely part of town known as Clapham Commons. A beautiful mix of brick homes and trendy shops, Clapham is also centrally located with easy access  to all parts of the city by bus or tube.

Clapham Commons is also home of the Holy Trinity Clapham Church; where the song "Amazing Grace" was born and the British abolitionist movement against the slave trade with William Wilberforce took hold. The great film 2006 "Amazing Grace", with Ioan Gruffudd and Albert Finney captures the events of that era quite well.


The Tower of London, Parliament and Westminster Abbey

Getting an "Oyster Card" and taking the No. 88 bus from Clapham is great, as it follows one of the best routes for sightseeing in London; from the train station at Vauxhall, past "007's Office", aka MI-6, to Westminster Abbey, New Scotland Yard, the Houses of Parliament, "Big Ben" and Trafalgar and Piccadilly Square. If you can get a seat up front and atop one the hybrid-diesel double decker buses, you are in for a treat,  and for only a few pounds.

I was shocked at the amount of construction going on in London, and not all of it very pretty. London is so expensive that it seems only the wealthy, or the newly, well heeled immigrants from Russia and Poland can afford it. If San Franciscans thinks we has a housing crisis, (and we do), they should see what is happening in London and take heed.

Tourists were everywhere; I heard more languages in London than I could count. Outside of Parliament was statue of of Oliver Cromwell, "Lord Protector of England". Cromwell's corpse met a grisly fate at the hands of King Charles' son; payback for the beheading of his dad, King Charles. Charles II actually dug Cromwell up, chopped him to bits and displayed Oliver's head on the gates! The film version with Richard Harris omits this gruesome fact.

A short bus or tube ride to Tower Hill, brings you to the macabre, historic venue of the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. The British seem to celebrate their grisly history in a variety of venues, none perhaps more popular than the Tower of London, the scene of many a beheading, heretical burnings and executions; Mary Queen of Scots, Anne Boleyn and many, many others. If that's your thing, you may want to visit the torture museum in Carcassonne when you are in France; feel free to visit them both twice for this writer!

Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square and Camden Locks

Back on the 88 bus again, you can ride past the famed Piccadilly and Trafalgar Squares; home of London's great theaters and historical statues of Winston Churchill and Lord Nelson. I've lived in NYC, seen Times Square at rush hour, but nothing compares to a Friday night with a million pedestrians racing for home. Critical Mass on feet; it's amazing one can even walk downtown, as it it is absolutely packed on a daily basis. Only the buses, cabbies and a few hearty vehicles can traverse this area. 

At the end of the line is the incredible open air market of Camden Town. Camden  is like Haight Street, Canal Street and DC's Eastern Market times 100; all day every day. I've never seen anything like it. Every kind of food, art, music, and wares are on display; It would take days to see it all.

Vegan restaurants with DJ cello players; a Shaka Zulu themed night club; t-shirts, CDs, bags, leather, denim, buttons, furniture; you name it, Camden Town has it and it seemed to never end. One place you do not want to miss when you visit London to be sure.

Kent, Cambridge and Wimbledon

With London and all its glory behind us, it was time to venture out into the country side. Several years ago, we visited Bath, the home of Jane Austen and the Bath International Music Festival. This time, it was time to see family and friends in the suburbs of Kent and the famed college town of Cambridge. Cambridge was lovely; teeming with "punters", students and faculty we jumped at the chance drive into the country side, and experience a bit of the folks out there. Surprisings, there was a lovely music festival 20 miles away; great rock, jazz, folk and food- This was the England we came to see. After a few pints of ale and some of the best fish and chips I've ever had, it was time to head back to the city. Unfortunately, Sunday seems to be the day when England has issues with rail service, either on the tube or the GreaterAnglia lines. Being a tourist, I didn't mind; the locals however made their feelings know in a hilariously acerbic, and uniquely British way. 

Wimbledon is the mecca for tennis players, and tickets can be had- for a price. Tickets that aren't gotten through a lottery can be gotten one of several ways; you can spend over $1000 for day one, Center Court seats via Stub Hub, or camp out early Sunday morning and "que" for one of only 1500 show court seats. Another 6000 are available for the grounds and the outer courts, but they will also require waiting in line for several hours. Camping out wasn't an option for us this year; much more comfortable to be dining and watching from the comfort of a country home with long lost friends, but next year the nephews will assist me in procuring the the much sought after seats. The weather was freezing in London by the way and combined with their beloved Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal on the opening day card; Wimbledon saw 1710 souls; a record number of fans; some even camping out on Saturday night for only 1500 tickets, and by 11:00 am Sunday, the tickets for opening day were gone. Alas, so was Rafael Nadal, who suffered his first ever loss in the first round of a Grand Slam at the hand of a Belgian ranked 135 in the world.

Today, we are off to Lisbon, Portugal for more music, food and friends, before heading back to France. Cheers!

Travelogue Europe: Southern France

For the last few weeks, I've been traveling and performing in Europe with the Wilbur Rehmann Quintet. From the quaint little towns like Fa, Quillan, Eygalieres and Moustiers Sainte-Marie, to the lively centers of Carcassonne, Cannes, Nice and Paris. Tourist season is now in full swing; the French Open is behind us and the Tour de France is about to begin. France has also seen some unusual weather; flooding has closed the town of Lourdes, postponing the annual pilgrimage there.

The French however, are a resilient lot, and will bounce back as they have for centuries. In my next few columns, I'll describe a few of the amazing places I'll be visiting; France, England and Portugal, all the while heeding  travel writer Rick Steves' adage of "getting to know the locals, and straying off the beaten path."

Toulouse, Carcassonne and Eygalieres

After a rather uncomfortable flight from SFO, non-stop to Heathrow; (with an iPad playing, fidgety child and seats designed to extract more money than comfort), we actually arrived too late to make the French connection due to winds, however another flight was available and before we knew it, we were in Toulouse. Next up, the fortress City of Carcassonne.

Carcassonne is one of the largest castles in Europe; Charlamagne gave up trying to take it by starving the town, when a woman named "Carcas" threw a pig over the walls, told them they had plenty of food and would outlast any invasion; she was bluffing, but it worked, or so the story goes. Inside the walls are wonderful shops, food and tourist attractions for all. Carcassonne is the real deal, unlike that fake castle winery in Napa.

Our host in Carcassonne was also one of my old bandmates; ex-patriot and bassist extraordinaire; Stanley Adler. Stanley and I had played and worked with both Madonna and Brian Eno back in the '80s, so this was a real treat to have him for this tour. Stanley showed us the amazing, little known towns of Fa and Quillan; with British, Dutch, American and Australian ex-pat artists and musicians now living in the Lanqueduc-Rousillon region. Peaceful, gorgeous, affordable and idyllic, it's no wonder these folks have settled there.

We next traveled to the town of Eygalieres for the first of two shows with the full quintet. Eygalieres was even more beautiful; they were making a movie about the "Mistral" with Jean Reno; the owners of Le Cafe de la Place were wonderful and the French musicians who joined us were superb. Despite my terrible French; we were able to communicate through music; we all spoke the universal language of jazz and our vocabulary consisted of words like Monk, Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny. One of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever had and will truly treasure.

Cannes, Moustiers Sainte-Marie, the Gorge du Verdon and Nice

After Eygalieres, we were off to Cannes and Nice. The film festival had just ended and the "Croissette" was teaming with people. Our hosts were also ex-pats; musicians and artists. After some recording and some great jams, we traveled a mere 2 hours away to the beautiful town of Moustiers Sainte-Marie and the Gorge du Verdon; the Grand Canyon of France. The blue water in the gorge is like nothing I have ever seen, cause by the clay, the micro-algae and natural fluoride. If you love Yosemite and Tahoe, you will love renting a kayak or canoe as we did, and paddling up the gorge for some of the beautiful scenery.

With the gorge behind us, we drove next to Nice; a vibrant, coastal mecca with food, music, French-Italian history and shops galore. You can play tennis, volleyball on the beach, hit the clubs or sun yourselves on any of the public, (free), or private beaches. Between Cannes and Nice was the Musee de Picasso in Antibles, with works also by Joan Miro and many others.

Picasso lived in this old castle, now converted to a museum, for 4 months following the events of World War II, and entered into an artistic "period of light, optimism and celebration."

 There is also a Chagall and Matisse museum in Nice, well worth visiting if you are a fan of their works. After a lovely dinner with more friends and ex-pats, (there are a lot of them in Europe), it was time to bid adieu to the south of France, if only for a little bit. Next up, Paris, London, Cambridge and Wimbledon.