France

So, heading straight on from Switzerland into France, we arrived in the small town of Guebwiller.

 Immediately we all sensed the "small town" vibe of what we were getting into. It was as if the whole world was closing in around us. Not that it was that different from the ancient, winding cobblestone streets of Schaffhausen, but it just felt quieter, more local and not touristy in the slightest. 

On the recommendation of our host at the following night's gig at the Hotel de L'ange, the Italian transplant Franco, we drove straight into the countryside to a hotel a bit outside of town. We were all tired from the day's drive, so after the usual van luggage unloading routine, it was straight upstairs and into bed. It was dark and late and difficult to register too much in the old observation banks regarding our environment, but we couldn't help but be critically aware of the insanely cool space-age decor within the hotel. It was as if we were suddenly transplanted to some uber-hip Palm Springs hot spot! I mean, I'm talking orange molded plastic chairs and nebulous shaped tables!

This alone made the hotel a great location, but upon waking the following morning and seeing the grounds in the sunlight, minds were further blown! 

Turns out the place was situated on it's own lake, complete with ducks and swans, and right on the banks of a soothingly flowing river. Again, it was like something out of a postcard.

The day turned out to be quite a leisurely one, filled with wandering the tiny little streets of Guebwiller, finally doing some laundry and getting situated at the next hotel for the gig.

 We did stop at a cool little local music store and found ourselves involved in a spontaneous jam session on "Apache" with some local kids and were also treated to Lorenzo sharing his softer side, as he serenaded us with a calming rendition of The Commodores' "Easy." 

Later we also patronized a particular little cafe on the main pedestrian drag that served the most incredible home made pastries and seemed to specialize in these crazy elaborate marzipan creations!

The gig itself turned out to be the first of several of what we have lovingly referred to as "Spinal Tap" gigs on the tour. The hotel was very nice--clean, well lit, perfectly laid out with a number of amenities. 

However, we slowly began to notice that more and more of the guests appeared to have white, if not blue-ish hair and be somewhat advanced in age, so to speak. It became even more apparent as soon as we stepped into the stage area to play the gig. We all got plugged in, tuned up and turned around to find two adjoining dining rooms filled with elderly folks enjoying their nice, quiet dinners staring at us like deer in headlights! 

And that's not all...at sound check we had been advised to keep the volume at a "reasonable" level. In this case, basically meaning as quiet as humanly possible. Now, we're not fussy, particular or demanding in any way, shape or form, but playing this quiet was definitely a challenge and took some getting used to. I have to say, though, that when all was said and done, playing that quiet forced us all to concentrate on the playing, the dynamics and our interaction with one another that much more, like being under the microscope. There was no high volume to cover or hide mistakes. It ended up being a really fun show, we felt like we all improved as a band from the experience, and best of all, just had to walk up one flight of stairs to bed! Actually, the highlight of the entire night came next, when our cute bar staff brought us a gigantic platter of cheese as a late-night after-show snack! The 3 cheese heads Dave, Lorenzo and I were extremely happy!

Full of cheese, it was off to bed with sights set on Belgium the next day!