Welcome to the Online Journal of the
MBCC Senior Choir 2005 Spain/France Tour!


updated 12 July 2005


From Barcelona to Paris Carcassonne Barcelona Paris Rocamadour Toulouse Sarlat Cognac Cahors Moissac St. Emilion Poitiers Chartres Amboise Fontevraud Tours Montserrat

Welcome!

From 25 June to 12 July 2005, the Senior Choir of the Manhattan Beach Community Church was on tour in Europe, traveling from Barcelona in Spain northward to Paris, France. As with our 1999 tour of Italy, Austria, Germany, and Slovakia and our 2002 tour of England, Wales, and Scotland, I (Mark Looper) posted an online journal of our adventures, so our friends and families back home could see what we were up to! As we traveled, illustrated journal pages were created for each day and linked to the cities on the map, as well as to the itinerary and to the list below. There is also a page with the repertoire of songs that we took along. (Final itinerary and travel arrangements by Ambassador Tours, 148 East Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo, MI USA, 1-800-247-7035.)

SQUAK

Quite a few spouses, friends, and family members accompanied the choir on the tour; here is a photograph of most of them, taken just before we went for a nighttime cruise on the river Seine in Paris on July 10th, with the illuminated Eiffel Tower in the background. They were our porters, A/V crew, and in some places the only audience when we sang!

Escorts and drivers

We also had some very professional, and very friendly, escorts and drivers from Ambassador Tours. From left to right are Juanjo Martín, Nancy DeVries, Oriol Brasó Campderrós, and Manolo Martín. Nancy and Oriol were our escorts, who kept us informed about places we were to visit and who handled situations from lost luggage to injuries with aplomb, and Juanjo and Manolo were our drivers, who carried us more than a thousand miles in comfort and safety. I took this photo from the Champ de Mars when we stopped on July 9th for a view of the Eiffel Tower.

We hope you, the members and friends of MBCC, enjoy accompanying us (retroactively!) on our tour!

Online Journal

Thanks for Visiting!

new 17 April 2005, revised 12 July 2005