A bowl of roast tomatoes

That's all I've got after a busy couple of days. Choir practice today, so naturally I had to make a very large cake yesterday, and this morning I realised I hadn't thought what to eat for lunch at choir tomorrow. There were tired tomatoes in the fridge, so I roasted them and then incorporated them into a savoury clafoutis with some goat's cheese ... sorted.

Choir was exhausting. It's the last weekend rehearsal before the concerts and we spent much time on the shouty, tongue-twisting Mirjams Siegesgesang, which we really don't know properly. If you blindfolded me, I'd never guess it was Schubert who wrote this. What were you thinking, Franz? I'm now making myself listen to it while I blip. It sounds better when you don't have to sing the unattractive alto part :)  But I wouldn't have wanted to miss choir again, after two years out. 

Yesterday evening Ingrid and I went to the theatre in Capendu to see one-woman show Guten Tag, Madame Merkel. You can guess what it is about. It was quite a tour de force -- 75 minutes on stage alone, with no props except a chair and a couple of jackets.  Anna Fournier not only played all the parts, she wrote the script and did the directing (with assistance) as well. It was a clever balance of humour and serious political content. The audience particularly enjoyed her sharp caricatures of French politicians such as Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, and François Hollande (her imitation of the latter two's body language and conversation was particularly funny, the highlight a nannying telephone conversation with Sarkozy). We also liked her perfect rendition of a German person speaking French. At the end Angela sits alone reflecting on her career and questioning some of her decisions.

We met neighbours I and V there and sat with them. Afterwards the theatre always lays on wine and peanuts, and the actors come and chat with members of the audience. We thought Anna would be too exhausted for this, but she came and chatted for a good half hour and even posed for photos with some audience members. It turns out she has a degree in history, so she had the skills to do the research. Obviously the conversations were made up, but much of the content was based on real events (e.g. Putin bringing his large dog along to a meeting because he knew Merkel is scared of dogs).

Anyway ... time for bed, early start tomorrow!