So things in Flaine have been looking up compared to my last real update; I'm having daily lessons on the Brahms F minor sonata (or rather: Sonate en Fa minor de Brahms pour alto) with Miguel Da Silva (violist of the Ysaye Quartet) and he's been absolutely great. I've also been seeing a kinesiologist for my shoulder injury and that's been helping a lot as well. I wouldn't say that I'm playing at 100% but I'm slowly working my way back. I've also been placed in a piano quartet playing the Turina piano quartet. I'm also literally the only english speaker in the quartet, but you know that old cliche how music is the universal language? It's actually kind of true, go figure. As time goes by and as I learn more and more French, I start making more and more friends. After the concert today (which was ended abruptly because somebody in the audience randomly had an epileptic seizure) I went to a bar with some of my new French friends! My broken French and their broken English got us through a good couple hours worth of conversation.

More observations!
1) Snails taste like clams. Yes, I had escargot, and it was pretty good.
2) They don't call french fries "french fries" for no reason. People here have it with every single meal it seems.
2b) They really like their bread, people will buy a fresh baguette daily and just munch on it over the course of an entire day.
2c) They don't seem to ever get obese.
3) Older european men seem to enjoy winking as a subtle form of greeting. Paul Coletti does it, Antonio Lysy does it, Guillaume Sutre does it, and Miguel Da Silva does it. Hurm.
4) The myth that French women don't shave their pits is only partly true. I will not go into detail.

That's all for now, A bientot!