The New Team

Friday morning was the first day of formation for the primary assistants this year. I had met nearly everyone before that morning when we all gathered, but there were still a couple of new arrivals and new faces.

This year we are 9 (compared to last year's 8) but, unexpectedly, we're quite the diverse bunch. Usually most primary assistants are American, Canadian or Australian, but this year we have equal numbers of Americans and Brits. There's Andrew, Emily and Rachel, (plus me) who hail from l'Amérique. Nicola is from Northern Ireland, and Kathy, Louise and Jenny are from England. And Claire is our token Canadian. It's really a nice bunch, and I think we're all having a good time getting to know each other.

Yesterday afternoon suddenly became quite sunny, after many days of grey and rain, so I took the perhaps-limited chance to get out on my bike. I just got new tires on Thursday, and I was looking forward to testing them out. I was not disappointed, not by the tires, nor the beautiful fall sun. As I was coming back into Metz, after an hour's ride along a lovely canal, finishing touches were being put on art installations for last night's Nuit Blanche. With the sun, the river, and the beautiful scenes, I couldn't resist going back out with my camera to capture everything before dark.

Temple Neuf and the Moselle

Les drapeaux

Labyrinthe of grasses in front of the Opera