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I finally getting my *ss on a plane to see family in southeast France.

I sort of opened up musically there, in nearby Montreux, Switzerland (Smoke on the Water), as a school friend took me there to see blues dudes, and later, folks like the then very old Cab Calloway!
Of note: that friend was in the audience when the "old" casino caught fire during a Zappa gig, and Frank told folks to get out, a piece of rock music history!

So I will make it a train day trip, visit the town, sip a glass of local white wine, have a thought for the founder of the music festival, the late Claude Nobs, and ponder by Freddie Mercury's statue by the lake shore.

Sounds like a wonderful trip, have fun and enjoy the family visit.

Cool history and great fun but why is the mercury stature there?

Sounds like a great trip, my wife would be very jealous as she got to study in the south of France for a while. I've had the fortune to travel internationally a bit with my new job, and I wish I would have done so more earlier in life.

OK, here is the history about Montreux:
Local boy, Claude Nobs created a series of rock concerts, which later became a festival.
He, or some rock personality , built a recording studio. Deep Purple had time there, right after the Frank Zappa gig when the concert hall within the "old casino" caught fire,. They recorded "Smoke on the Water" later that week!
So beside the yearly mid-July festival, mostly blues/jazz, there was a stream of folks like Bowie, the Stones, visiting the recording facilities, and hanging out.
Queen spent some time there as well, and bought a recording facility. I read that the sick Freddie was very fond of the local calm, as band was very busy recording what they knew was their last.
The statue is by the lake shore, quite a bit of an attraction, regularly gets flowers, notes, signs.
One can wikipedia all that, lots was written.

Well, I did it and had fun.
The FM statue is quite popular with a rather international crowd, even though few seem aware of what it means. Nearby is an animated mobile set in a phone-booth sized enclosure to celebrate the life of Claude nobs, founder of the festival, who passed away 10 years to the month, actually. i did manage to sing a few bars of an interpretation of "Radio Gaga" to myself... 'You made 'em laugh, you made 'em cry", " Someone still loves you"
I will post a pic or two when back to full internet.
I am so out of touch, I did not remember that the 13th century lakeside castle was close by, so I visited that. Easy to reach via a 50 minute walk on a wonderful paved pedestrian path. The lakeside landscape is quite exquisite, with vineyards right by the shoreline, I managed to engage a fellow busy tending the plants in one of them. We talked about a lot of stuff. growing conditions, the importance of consuming local products. A warm, pleasurable exchange!

I know it is not popular with Americans, in general, but there is something to say about rail travel, when it is quick, efficient like it is here.

Sounds like a nice trip. Getting to see family members and having a visit again with some of your youth. Early life experiences are some of my fondest memories.

I'm not a fan of the Tom of Finland Freddie statue. The more emaciated he became in reality, the more extreme became the falsification of his image as healthy, strong, virile, robust. It's a good example of gas-lighting and "fake is the new real." In fairness, this is probably nothing new. Those ancient busts of Julius Ceasar probably depict him as far more handsome and with more of a Roman nose than he likely possessed.

However, Freddie's exemplary art will live forever. Nobody can take away the reality of that. He loved cats too.

A follow up: I did enjoy the Freddie M trip.
Family, well, yeah. I seem to have outgrown some of their ways, and after a while, I want to retreat to my calm space, be around folks that can take a joke, a good laugh, often strangers. Odd, isn't it?

Like many of us, I am sure, my hometown has become a concrete jungle, no earmarking of green spaces. etc. Where will kids play a bit, mothers stroll with baby carriages...?