Vaison La Romaine- August 17: Music, A Universal Language

Breakfast this morning was served in the old dining room of the chateau where there is evidence of old paintings on the walls from the original building in the 1500's. There are families here from France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

We started the day at Musee de Vaison la Romaine. There are two large areas of Roman ruins to explore with intact mosaic floors, Roman columns, and an archaeology museum. The ruins go back 2000 years. In the early 1900s, a student was digging and found an ampitheater with 6000 seats. Today, it's been restored and is used for concerts. Driving through the narrow streets, our next stop was the medieval part of town. It's so pretty and peaceful there with tiny cobblestone streets, houses with container gardens, and views at every turn. Peering into a barn, we noticed some women weaving colorful ribbons and lavender stalks together. They invited us in to watch. We also discovered that if we had kept the handy audio guide from the museum, we could have used it all over town.

In the late afternoon we drove to Seguret. Once again we were like explorers conquering the castle at the top of the footpath for a panoramic view. In the evening we saw a fantastic concert in the cathedral featuring Bernard Soustrot and Jean Dekyndt. Soustrot plays the trumpet and Dekyndt plays the organ. I think they might be famous because the church was packed and they sold and autographed CDs. The acoustics were perfect. In between each piece, the organist spoke at length in French. Was it about the composers or their inspiration for each piece? We do not know, but we loved the concert.

"Lost in the Language"

The organist speaks to the crowd.
What is it about?
The composer's life?
His inspiration?
We do not know.
But wait...
When the music starts,
we are all one.
Music crosses all language barriers
and we are lost no more.