Eclectic music man

Lowland pipes, played by Bernie Precious, are from
the South of Scotland. These smaller pipes are more conducive
to playing indoors than their larger cousin the bagpipe.

Hear bagpipes and think of kilt-wearing Scotsmen, but the history of this woodwind instrument may go back more than a thousand years. Consisting of blowpipe or bellows, bag, chanter and drone, this complicated instrument emits a sound that is an acquired taste to some and a cherished tradition to others. Local musician Bernie Precious plays the pipes and recently shared with me some of his unusual collection of musical instruments.

Lowland pipes, played by Bernie Precious, are from the South of Scotland. These smaller pipes are more conducive to playing indoors than their larger cousin the bagpipe.

Bernie Precious demonstrates how to play the nyckelharpa,
a traditional Swedish stringed instrument.

The nyckelharpa, shown here played by Bernie Precious, is a traditional Swedish
instrument related to a fiddle or a hurdy-gurdy.

Bernie and his wife Elaine moved to their countryside home in the northern Lot-et-Garonne (47) a few months ago and they are still settling in. The floor of Bernie’s studio is crisscrossed with cords, and instrument cases encircle the room.

Each of Bernie’s instruments comes with an origin story and during my visit I receive lessons in history, geography and sociology. He sits down at a small organ and points out that its shell is actually a carrying case. Organs like this were brought by pastors or priests to the battlefields during WWI to accompany hymns, he tells me.

Bernie Precious plays a tune on a portable organ dating from
World War I.

As he moves from banjos to mandolins to pipes, Bernie tells me his own story too. Born and raised in London, he moved to Scotland when he was in his mid-30s as a research scientist at the University of St. Andrews. There he met his future wife Elaine.

In addition containing Scotland’s oldest university, St. Andrews is known for golf and is home to what many consider to be the world’s oldest golf course. His friend was shooting a documentary about golf and asked Bernie to score the film, thus launching Bernie on a quest to find and master traditional Scottish musical instruments.

“My friend [the filmmaker] said I should think ‘sepia,'” Bernie says. “It was the only instruction he gave me.”

Bernie Precious plucks out a tune on a mandolin, an Italian relative of the lute.

Bernie has had little formal musical training. Other than taking piano lessons when he was 16 from a neighbor, he is a self-taught musician. His first instrument was a recorder that he learned to play when he was around 7. Four years later, he took up guitar, and by the age of 14, Bernie was playing in a local blues band.

Bernie Precious demonstrates the low whistle,
possibly the world’s oldest tuned instrument.

“I was a keyboardist [in several bands] for years,” he tells me. “But it became pretty boring [playing the same songs over and over]. I even fell asleep one night during a show.”

Bernie Precious demonstrates the banjo, one of many
musical instruments in his collection.

When he retired, Bernie and Elaine sought a sunny location in which to live. After spending a bit of time in Greece, they moved to southwest France two years ago. This past year, Bernie connected with the Folk Forum 47 Club that puts on monthly concerts and other musical events in Lauzun. The club’s First Friday Folk concerts include traditional songs performed by a core group of singers and guest artists performing folk music from around the world.

Musician Bernie Precious plays the hurdy-gurdy,
an instrument of Arabic origin.

Beyond the tuning pegs of Bernie Precious’s hurdy-gurdy
is a hand-carved figure

Each July, Bernie and Elaine join thousands of lovers of traditional music at Le Son Continu Festival at the Château d’Arts near La Châtre, located in the center of France in the Indre (36) department. Here more than 100 craftspersons demonstrate and sell their handmade traditional and ethnic instruments including bagpipes, accordions and hurdy-gurdies. Several instruments in Bernie’s collection were made by artisans he met at the festival.

Bernie Precious demonstrates a Weissenborn,
which he describes as a second cousin to the steel guitar.

This banjo, fashioned from a gourd, was made in America by a friend of
musician Bernie Precious.

I ask Bernie what kind of music he enjoys listening to and, after thinking for a moment he rattles off a list of a couple of dozen artists and genres. His taste, quite unsurprisingly, is eclectic.

I, Cannes run

Guess where I am. 

This week marks one year since I became a runner. Fed up with le temps froid de l'hiver discouraging me from riding my bike, I eye the treadmill that had been gathering dust and reluctantly step on it. My twice-a-week three-mile walks turn into every-other-day jogs, and by the end of the summer I am up to five miles. Once I realize that six-and-a-half miles equals 10K, I strive for that milestone and pat myself on the back when I reach it. When my sister suggests that I join her in Cannes in February for a 10K race, I say pourquoi pas!

We're still standing and even smiling after the race.

My running shoes haven't seen pavement much less wet pavement dotted with merde de chien, and the skies are threatening rain, but I bravely take my place near the back of the pack. The Cannes Mandelieu racecourse is blissfully flat. We start off in one direction, turn around and run back to the starting line. Then we run in the opposite direction and back. If there had been a third leg, I would have quit, but I persevere.

About two-thirds of the way through, my sister sprints ahead while I slow down and peruse my iPod for inspirational tunes. Eventually, the half-marathon "showoffs" pass me in the outbound lanes, and I step up the pace so I can finish before they catch up on their return. Just as the driver of the lead car tells us stragglers to rester à gauche (stay to the left), the finish line comes into view. My sister is there, camera phone in hand, to snap a very unflattering picture (which you will not see here). My time of 75 minutes is a solid 15 minutes ahead of my best treadmill time, so all in all, je suis satisfait.

The view of Cannes from le Suquet (old town) is pas mal.

Narrow homes line the road up to le Suquet in Cannes.

Amusing murals cover this building in Cannes.

Cannes is known for its handprints of movie stars. 

Colorful toy boats stand by for action along the esplanade in Cannes.

Our 24 hours in Cannes is the first time I've visited this city that is described in nearly all the travel guides as "a playground of the rich and famous" and "the place to see and be seen." Despite the lack of sunshine and celebrities, we enjoy a few hours after brunch exploring the city before our train departs for Montpellier.

Montpellier's Porte du Peyrou is informally called the Arc de Triomphe.

The Montpellier night sky is clear enough to see the moon rise above the steeple of Sainte Anne's and the city's Arc de Triomphe looks fine with its lights on. We also pass the new Popeyes on Place de la Comédie — an inexplicably popular new American addition to Montpellier's restaurant scene. A sign in the window borrows the France motto — liberté, égalité, fraternité — to hawk their chicken.

Montpellier's Carré Sainte-Anne is a Gothic church-turned-art-exhibition space.

I never ate at Popeyes in the States, and I have
no desire to try its chicken in Montpellier
(but I am amused by the center sign). 

Here are lessons from ma petite aventure: 

• There are many better places than Cannes to visit on the French Riviera, unless of course you want "to see and be seen." 
• Once blown inside out, a cheap travel umbrella is likely at the end of its usefulness.
• When training for one's first and possibly only 10K, focus on endurance rather than speed. 
• I need to figure out how to make a play list on my iPod.
• Although I wish restaurants here would open earlier than 7:30, sushi take-out til 10 has its charms.
• My sister is my favorite travel buddy. (Oh, but I already knew that!) 

Agen museum is home to art and artifacts

Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen is situated in the heart
of Agen, the préfecture of the Lot-et-Garonne.

Thousands of pieces — from archaeological artifacts to art — are housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Agen (musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen). The museum was founded by Agen scholars and amateur collectors in 1876. We’ve been to the Lot-et-Garonne’s préfecture city many times on business or to shop, but we only recently manage to make our first visit to the museum.

Comprised of four Renaissance townhouses, the interior of
musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen is a special setting for the art it contains.

The museum’s collection is housed in four Renaissance townhouses mostly dating from the 16th century: Hôtel d’Estrades, Hôtel de Vaurs, Hôtel Vergès, and Hôtel Monluc. The houses were built at the edge of Agen’s old city wall. The museum entrance is on Place D’Esquirol.

Marble staircases and hallways link the Renaissance
townhouses that comprise musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen.

Through the centuries, the townhouses have been altered and restored, so only part of the original features are visible. However, it’s clear as we wind our way through hallways and up and down stairs, that we are inside a special part of Agen’s history.

A sarcophagus is on display at musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen.

Our visit starts with Romanesque and Gothic pieces from the Middle Ages, including a funerary monument, sculptures and a Gobelins tapestry from the 17th century.

Vierge de Pietie from the 15th century is on display at
musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen.

In the basement, we explore archaeological artifacts and a room dedicated to mineralogy. These dark caves were once prisons.

Ancient artifacts from the area are on display at musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen.

A room at musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen is dedicated to
mineral treasures from around the world.

The caves beneath musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen were prisons
between 1765 and 1861.

We head up to the first floor where the museum’s collection of paintings, sculptures and furniture is housed. The styles are broad: Flemish, Dutch, Italian and French (naturellement!). Of special pride to the museum are five works by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya (1746-1828). The museum is one of only a few French museums to display Spanish paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Allegresse by Marmande painter Abel-Dominique Boyé (1864-1934)
is on display at musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen.

An unknown 19th-century artist painted this view of Agen from
the stone bridge, on display at musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen.

Among the art are pieces of rare furniture and decorative objects including ceramics and earthenware.

Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen contains an impressive collection of
 ceramics and decorative objects.

Visitors to musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen can peek inside an antique piano.

Hospital artifacts are displayed at musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen.

If visitors to musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen ignore the signs asking them
to not sit on the antique chairs, then this prickly plant may make the point.

Contemporary art is not ignored here. A generous amount of space is allocated to modern French artists with entire rooms dedicated to Agen-born François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008), and Villeréal-born Roger Bissière (1886-1964).

A sculpture by François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008) is on display
in a room dedicated to him at musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen.

A sculpture by Jean-Didier Debut (1824-1893) is on display
at musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen.

Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen is open all-year round; closed on Tuesdays and holidays. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (closed for lunch between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.). Regular admission is 5.60 €, children are free.