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Bonjour from Paris!


Buc McMaster

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Just a quick check in from the Seine on a Viking river boat! Headed down the river for 6 day to visit the Normandy beaches and all points in between. See ya next week!

 

Nice i'm from Normandy (Caen). Lived over 20 years there.

Hope you'll have a blast and fine weather, dont forget of course Deauville, Honfleur, Omaha beach, and west with Mt St Michel etc. Classics.

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Let us know if you check out any music stores or come across any hometown musicians while there...what they are like, what music they play...

 

Enjoy your vacation and hope you come across some images to work into your songwriting!

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

 

 

Many years ago Gibson used distributors to sell guitars in France and the rest of Europe. The French distributor sent several of their sales reps to do a tour of the Gibson facilities. They came to Bozeman and they were great guys and gals. All 9 of them. We stayed at a local resort and we brought guitars. The French know how to play and sing the blues. They were great players and their vocals were amazing as they completely lost their heavy French accents and sounded just like American blues players and singers. We were playing at a local college hang-out that week-end and they jammed in with us onstage.

 

A couple of months later I was doing a tour of the European distributors and several of the French guys had their own bands and invited me to sit in with them. I can tell you all that the level of music is phenomenal. Fine guitar players one and all and their hospitality was amazing. When they found out I had two uncles buried there they took me out and found their graves.

 

I had the pleasure of visiting many of the fine guitar shops and they were all very warm and inviting folks. I ate in many homes and got to sit in with quite a few bands. They all love the blues and they are all amazing players. My favorite was a guy in Paris who played the harmonica. He didn't really play harmonica he just hummed(sort of) harmonica sounds. You would never know he didn't use a harp. Two of the reps actually came over to the U.S. several times and played at the Handy awards. Very fine players.

 

They thing they liked about visiting Montana were all the pick-up trucks and the fact that we had horses and a firing range. They couldn't get over the fact that most of the Gibson/Montana folks drove pickup trucks to work and all had gun racks. I took them to the local rod and gun club where I am an instructor. We had a great time.

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Many years ago Gibson used distributors to sell guitars in France and the rest of Europe. The French distributor sent several of their sales reps to do a tour of the Gibson facilities. They came to Bozeman and they were great guys and gals. All 9 of them. We stayed at a local resort and we brought guitars. The French know how to play and sing the blues. They were great players and their vocals were amazing as they completely lost their heavy French accents and sounded just like American blues players and singers. We were playing at a local college hang-out that week-end and they jammed in with us onstage.

 

A couple of months later I was doing a tour of the European distributors and several of the French guys had their own bands and invited me to sit in with them. I can tell you all that the level of music is phenomenal. Fine guitar players one and all and their hospitality was amazing. When they found out I had two uncles buried there they took me out and found their graves.

 

I had the pleasure of visiting many of the fine guitar shops and they were all very warm and inviting folks. I ate in many homes and got to sit in with quite a few bands. They all love the blues and they are all amazing players. My favorite was a guy in Paris who played the harmonica. He didn't really play harmonica he just hummed(sort of) harmonica sounds. You would never know he didn't use a harp. Two of the reps actually came over to the U.S. several times and played at the Handy awards. Very fine players.

 

They thing they liked about visiting Montana were all the pick-up trucks and the fact that we had horses and a firing range. They couldn't get over the fact that most of the Gibson/Montana folks drove pickup trucks to work and all had gun racks. I took them to the local rod and gun club where I am an instructor. We had a great time.

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Just a quick check in from the Seine on a Viking river boat! Headed down the river for 6 day to visit the Normandy beaches and all points in between. See ya next week!

 

Utah - Omaha - Gold - Juno - Sword, , , , are words I carry like a poem in my head.

Would like to visit them for sure. Closest I ever got was the dunes of Dunkirk.

But I played the streets of Paris in my absolutely young days. Lots of buskers and entertainers around so it was hard to find a spot.

The under-surface-tunnel between Champs-Élysées and Arc de Triomphe however turned out to be an ideal place. People there were tourists, they had time and Franc.

Made the wheels spin.

Enjoy the C au lait, , , and don't forget to check the Gibson scene.

"Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues - you can tell from the way she smiles"

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I guess I have part of "The Ugly American" gene. It amazes me how there are so many musicians world-wide who love American music to the point of learning to play it. I don't mean 'Smashing Pumpkins' - i mean "American" in the sense of C&W, Blues, Bluegrass, Americana, etc. Maybe it started with Jazz. And the cliche of the French disdaining Americans - I guess it's another unfair, silly generality. Nice to hear that 'cultural exchange' between Paris and Bozeman is alive and well!

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And the cliche of the French disdaining Americans - I guess it's another unfair, silly generality.

 

It's not just us. The French have disdain for virtually everyone else. It's just part of being French. Don't take it personally.

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A second check-in......

 

We're on the Seine, bound for Paris, after visiting a few cities, towns and villages along the way to Omaha Beach and related areas. Somber place to survey, knowing the history. Have seen a lot of things one never sees in America, ....Europe is so old. We are, however, on a river cruise with planned stops and excursions and not a lot of free time to do personal exploration so we have not sampled any local music shops. Still, it has been a most excellent experience despite the fact that that our baggage was lost by the airline and has yet to show up. We'll be back in Paris on Wednesday for the flight home to Texas, and while it's been great fun, there's no place like home!

 

(....and no, did not bring a guitar, thankfully, since our belongs are still unaccounted for by the airline!)

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The French have disdain for virtually everyone else. It's just part of being French.

French disdain up de Gaulle's or Voltaire's or somebody else's a..

It's ridiculous and 'belongs' in another age.

But the Frenchmen themselves have been teased a lot, haven't they.

Apropos the 5 beaches, ever heard the eBay joke :

 

Vintage French army riffle for sale

Never used - dropped twice

 

Sorry froggies, , you have a great tradition for satire - you can take it.

 

Reste incroyable

 

Btw. I went to the theater and saw a play over a Houllebecq novel last Thursday. Another infant terrible from Paris there. .

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