5 Days in Cuba

The road to my Cuba adventure begins in March 2020 when a suddenly out of work jazz pianist living in Harlem named Emmet Cohen decided to have a rent party with a few local friends. Fans could tune in online and leave tips for the musicians with PayPal. Every Monday at 7:30pm Eastern, Live from Emmet's Place would stream on Facebook and YouTube. This was a lifeline for a live jazz junkie like me.

In the summer of 2024 Emmet sent an email to his fans asking if anyone was interested in joining him on a trip to Cuba. I pondered it for a few hours before responding to the email that I was interested. I got a reply that the trip was already full. :-( 

A few days later I got another email that they were adding a second tour. Emmet Cohen would do two back-to-back tours in Cuba. I was in!

On March 13th, 2025 I landed in Cuba with a tour group of 36 people for 5 days in Havana.

Day 1 - Thursday

We left Miami in the morning. Americans can fly to Cuba. They just need permission from the US State Department. You can file for permission yourself, but our paperwork was handled by Cuba Rhythm and Views, a tour operator that organizes trips to Cuba. Thank you to Neil and Ry who handled all the logistics and created a great experience for us!

We arrived in time for lunch and since we couldn't check in to our hotel yet, we went straight to a restaurant, called La Guarida. The first new Spanish word I learned was el paladar, which means private restaurant. A ristorante in Cuba is a restaurant run by the government, where you get the official government exchange rate of 150 pesos per US dollar. But at the paladars you get the market rate, which was about 320 pesos per dollar! The only government restaurant I ate at was the in the hotel and the food at the paladars was much better and more varied. The next word I learned was la guarida, which means lair. Yes, as in the villain's lair. And it was quite the lair.

The restaurant was on the 2nd floor. This greeted us on the first floor.

And of course, we had to walk by a Fidel Castro quote on the wall next to the stairs. Are they in every building?

Finally we arrive at the restaurant, correction, paladar. They have a fancy wine room. I think we're in for a treat.

We had a great lunch. Check out this unusual lemon pie. It is not what I expected when I ordered pie de limón con almendras.

La Guarida also had a roof deck that we explored a bit after lunch. It has some nice views of the city. This guy is blocking the view in all my pictures from the roof. Oh, well. You can still see the view.

We thought this would be our only chance to see this place. We didn't know that fate would lead us back here the following day.

After lunch we went to the hotel. But it was too early to check in to our rooms. Not to worry! The tour company arranged a lecture by a local university professor on the history of US-Cuba Relations. I thought it might be a good time to take a nap after that rich dessert, but the lecture was really interesting. I had always wondered how the US wound up with a military base in Cuba. Turns out we signed a 99-year lease on the place back in the 1920s. And that lease is coming due soon. I don't remember exactly when. Maybe I was napping a little bit.

I was aware, of course, that the US doesn't trade with Cuba. What I didn't know was that the US uses its influence with other countries to keep them from trading with Cuba also. I can't think about this without also thinking that both Americas and Cubans would be better off if we ended this trade embargo. But I digress. One country that doesn't bend to US pressure in this regard is Spain. And they are one of Cuba's largest trading partners. The hotel that we are about to check into is owned by a Spanish company. 

Speaking of hotels, the US State Department maintains a list of hotels where Americans are not allowed to stay. The Iberostar Parque Central is on the list. But the hotel expanded a few years ago and built a second tower. They decided to give the new tower its own name and address, so it wouldn't be on the list and could serve Americas. That's where we checked in after the lecture, the Iberostar Marqués del La Torre. 

I wonder what would happen if an American ate dinner in the lobby of the Parque Central hotel. Hmmm.

There was a local band in the lobby on Thursday night that I listened to while having dinner at the bar.

They sounded okay. Fun, but nothing to blog about. But I did meet some cool people in the tour group that I would wind up palling around with for the next 5 days.

After dinner we all went to see the evening canon firing. Yeah, it's about as exciting and deafening as you would guess.

After getting back to the hotel I was ready to check out some live music in Havana, so I asked around about where I could hear some local music. This tour was with the Emmet Cohen Trio. The drummer in the trio was the great Joe Farnsworth, who has been a fixture on the New York City jazz scene for decades. Emmet suggested I ask Joe about the local scene. They had been in Cuba for a week already and Joe was getting to know a few places. Joe recommended a place with a pop band in the old plaza. That's actually what they call it--Plaza Vieja--it sounds much cooler in Spanish. He didn't know the name of the bar, but he said it was on the corner of the square and I couldn't miss it. I didn't. It was called La Vitrola. And they did have a fun band. They looked great too. At least from the back.

I got a seat at an outdoor table in the plaza looking in at the back of the band. Okay, I went inside to get a pic from the front too.

Day 2 - Friday

Although I was hoping to spend every day following Emmet Cohen around listening to concert after concert, the tour was a little more varied than that. On Friday morning we visited a private daycare. Yes, daycare is provided by the government in Cuba, but they don't have enough capacity for everyone, so if you aren't in a high priority role (military, construction, tourism) then you may be on your own for daycare. We visited Padre Usera Daycare (Guarderia Padre Eusera) which was started by Sister Rocío de Jesús. Private daycare is legal in Cuba now, but this place was started back when it was illegal. Sister Rocío was a brave soul! I didn't want to take pictures of the children, but I thought this was cute the way all their backpacks were lined up on this bench.

Next we went to a private performance of the Liszt Alfonso Ballet. I didn't take any pictures, except of this of poster in the lobby that caught my eye.

After a fancy lunch at San Cristóbal, we visited a music school called Conservatorio Amadeo Roldán where we heard a high school jazz band. After the concert Emmet Cohen and his bandmates gave a master class. Rounding out the Emmet Cohen Trio on bass was Reuben Rogers, who is actually from the Caribbean--the Virgin Islands. Emmet wasn't feeling well that day, so Reuben led the master class. The band had played a Duke Ellington arrangement, I think it was Take the "A" Train. Reuben asked them to play it again and think about the dynamics, when they should play softer or louder. After just a little coaching they played the chart again--or least part of it--and it sounded much better. I was amazed what a difference it made.

We were supposed to have dinner on our own again, followed by a performance of the Cuban National Ballet, but The Fates had something else in store for us. (Do you know Bob and Betty Fate? I think they are from Omaha). The ballet had to be rescheduled and we were on our own for the evening. Emmet happened to know a Cuban pianist, Jorge Luis Pacheco, who had a gig that night at La Guarida. Almost everyone from the tour group decided to go. Our tour guides were amazing. They had arranged a bus during the day to shuttle us around. So many of us wanted to go to La Guarida, that they were able to use the bus to take us to dinner. And they arranged a reservation for 25 people too! We were up on the roof this time, enjoying good food and good music! Jorge Luis Pacheco is a singer as well as a pianist and Emmet sat in on piano for a tune with Jorge singing.

In the middle of the show, large parts of Havana suddenly went dark. We learned that Cuba sometimes has scheduled blackouts when they don't have enough fuel to generate electricity. But this blackout didn't seem to be planned. I didn't notice the blackout right away. Because the scheduled blackouts are somewhat common, a lot of places have their own generator. Like the fancy hotels and paladars. So we didn't lose power at La Guarida, but a lot of the city did. Fortunately our hotel also had a generator, or we might have been sleeping in the lobby. Well, I probably could have handled 5 flights of stairs. Maybe.

Back at the hotel after the music, I was revved up. One of the first people I met in the tour group was Ross, back in Miami. We were lining up to check in for the flight when I saw someone with a sax case. I had to introduce myself. There was a piano in the lobby of the hotel and late Friday night, Ross and I had a chance to make a little music!

Photo credit: Geri Fitzgerald

Day 3 - Saturday

Saturday morning we boarded the bus for an art gallery. This one was in the lobby of the Hotel Melia Cohiba. There were multiple hallways off the lobby with lots of art. This one really grabbed my eye, almost literally. I felt like this deer was looking right at me. He's the Mona Lisa of deer.

And this one was so realistic, I wanted to reach out and touch it.

The next stop on the tour was an artist's gallery. This was actually the artist's apartment. They had art all over the walls and jewelry on display. All for sale, of course. It was cool to see what an apartment in Havana looked like. One tiny bedroom, small kitchen, extra small stove. Reasonable living room and a decent outdoor space out back. I didn't take any pictures inside their apartment, though they probably wouldn't have minded. The tour company had told us in advance to bring cash if we wanted to buy art. This was our first opportunity to do that and a lot of people did. I think this artist does pretty well.

Next another fancy lunch, this time on the beach at a place called Vista Mar. It had a strange sequence of raised black boards at the far end of the pool. I didn't figure out what it was supposed to be until Emmet emailed out this pic a few months later.

Photo credit: Emmet Cohen

Does it look like a piano keyboard to you?

After lunch we visited an artist neighborhood called Fusterland. This neighborhood gets its unique character from Jose Fuster. He covered his house in his ceramic art and the ceramic art vibe spread to surrounding houses.

Here's one of the pieces up close.

In the evening the Emmet Cohen Trio was supposed to be performing at the Museo de Bellas Artes, but they were in the dark. Literally, no electricity. The blackout was still ongoing. The tour operator scrambled and convinced the hotel to host the concert in their lobby. So we ended up with a more intimate private performance right in our hotel.

There were local guests, a great trumpet player sat in. And Jorge Luis Pacheco (the pianist we heard Friday night) also sat in. And a number of the students that we heard at the school also sat in. The band coaxed the students up on stage and had them take over their instruments in the middle of a song. I looked up and suddenly it was a trio of talented Cuban high school students. Wow! Great concert.

After that we were on our own for dinner. And I knew a place! So I dragged a few of my new friends to La Vitrola. We sat outside and had a lovely late-night dinner.

Day 4 - Sunday

Sunday morning I decided to skip the planned art museum. I went for a run on the malécon, which is a large stone seawall, like a boardwalk, but without the boards. Turns out our hotel wasn't very far from the water. When I got back to the hotel, I decided I need some water, so took a dip in the rooftop pool.

Then I met up with the tour group at Mishifu for another delicious lunch.

Sunday there was supposed to be a concert with the Emmet Cohen Trio and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba at the National Theatre, but--you guessed it--no power. Once again, the tour guides made lemonade. The Sunday concert was going to be recorded. So the concert was moved to a recording studio and we got to watch and listen as they recorded some tracks!

It was a great show. Another intimate performance. Well, as intimate as you can get with an orchestra.

After that, we still had some daylight and I wanted to see the Hemingway House. (Ernest Hemingway lived in Cuba for many years.) But the Hemingway House wasn't open on Sundays. Hemingway also lived at the Hotel Ambos Mundos (Both Worlds Hotel). And the hotel was open. But we couldn't visit room 511 because... there was still no electricity.

Day 5 - Monday

Monday morning we did a walking tour of Old Havana, which was near the hotel. There was a short street that was paved with wooden bricks! They use a hard wood, but the bricks still don't last forever. There was a guy replacing worn out bricks when we were there. Yes, they really are made of wood.

We had a few minutes on our own and I found coffee shop that had a decent cortado!

As we continued to walk I started to recognize some of the streets. I know this neighborhood. That's the Old Plaza! When we took a break for lunch, I went to a restaurant on the plaza with my new gang of friends. Here's what one end of the plaza looks like.

I feel like I am repeating myself here. After lunch we were supposed to see the Spanish Ballet Company of Cuba, but there was still no electricity at the theatre. But the ballet company invited us to come to their rehearsal space (that did have power) to see them. They set up folding chairs along one wall of the room and performed right in front of us!

After I fell in love with Flamenco Dancing, we had one more touristy thing to do. You may have heard about the old cars in Cuba. There are no US made cars that were manufactured after 1959 in Cuba. I had expected to see old cars everywhere. But no, there a lots of recent model cars from Japan, China and Europe. The old US cars are a hobby for some people, but mostly a tourist attraction. This wasn't an official part of the tour, but our tour guides made it happen because so many of us wanted to do it.

Our driver was a former nurse. He said he made more money on one ride then he made in a whole month as a nurse. So he drives tourists around in old cars so he can make enough money to take care of his family.

That night we had our farewell dinner at L'Atelier, another fabulous paladar. Good food and drink and a live band. And one of the folks on the tour celebrated their 90th birthday that night! I hope I'll still be touring new places when I'm 90!

Around The Santiago In 6 Days

Thanks to my cousin, Garrett, and his sweet family for inviting me to come visit them in Santiago! In 6 days I saw the Colchagua Valley (a wine region!), Santiago, Valparaíso, Viña del Mar and Casablanca Valley (another wine region!).

My Aunt Betsy in Portland also wanted to visit her nephew Garrett in Santiago, so we teamed up for a Chilean adventure. We both had enough frequent flier miles on Alaska Airlines to make the trip, but they only had first class available for our trip down, so we had to figure out those crazy cocoon seats that recline totally flat like a bed. Ah, the experiences of travel.

Day 1 saw us biking through the Colchagua Valley, through the vineyards and little towns.

Pausing on a bridge for a selfie

Betsy, Sam, Ben, Michelle, Garrett and yours truly

After many kilometers of pedaling in the morning, we stopped for lunch. Yay! And my first Pisco Sour, the national drink of Chile. Every restaurant seems to have their own recipe.

The basic ingredients are pisco (a brandy made from grapes) and lime juice. It reminded me a bit of a Side Car--tart, sweet and packing some oomph!

Day 2 finds us at the Colchagua Museum learning about Chilean history. And why Bolivia has a navy, but no coastline. (Because they started a war with Chile to take more land and wound up losing all of their coastline.) I learned a bit, but was saving space in my brain for more important knowledge--about the wines of Chile!  We visited the Las Niñas winery, owned by a French company (they ship 90% of their wines to France). I thought this barrel was rather appealing:

But cousin Garrett liked this one:

I learned about the history of the Carmenère grape. Originally cultivated in France (the word comes from the French word for crimson), it was wiped out in France in the 1860's (damn insects!) and thought extinct. In 1994 a French oenologist discovered that a Chilean Merlot variety was actually the long lost Carmenère! And there was much rejoicing. Today, the Colchagua Valley is the main producer of Carmenère for the world.

Day 4 is Santiago Day.  Tours for Tips has a 3 hour walking tour for a suggested tip of 10,000 pesos (about $17).  The only cool picture I got was this cappuccino.



We learned three words on the tour and I remember two of them. That's 66%, what's that a D+? That about captures my Spanish ability.

The first word was terremoto which means earthquake. It's also the name of a drink. If you have more than one, then when you try to stand up, you feel like you are in an earthquake. It's made from cheap white wine and pineapple ice cream. The tour ended in a bar where the tour guide bought a few pitchers of terremoto so we could all try some. Not really something to write home about, but here I am writing about it.

The second word means "the lesser side", but I don't remember what the word was. There's a river running through Santiago and in the past, the poor folk lived on one side and that was the lesser side.

The third word was animata, which means spirit or ghost. According to folklore, if a child dies, their spirit doesn't leave this world, but stays here to help other people. People go to the child's grave and leave gifts (like stuffed animals) and ask for help. If your wish is granted, then you have to go back to the grave and put a plaque thanking the animata.  We looked at one grave with many children's toys and plaques.

Day 5 is time to visit the Chilean coast, so we're off to Valparaíso, the largest port in Chile. Not quite as busy as it was before the Panama Canal opened, but it's still a major seaport.



Next stop, the city of Viña del Mar (Vineyard by the Sea), which is famous for this clock made of flowers.



Finally, we stopped at the Casablanca Valley for some more wine tasting! This is Indomita Winery.



Before it was a winery it was a horse farm. We learned that indomita means untamed. Once we got up to the winery here's the view looking back down.



I'm not sure what the hiker sign is supposed to mean. Look out for hikers!

We tasted Chardonnay, Carmenère and Cabernet Sauvignon and their special high end red blend called Zardoz. I enjoyed them all, but I'd already bought 3 bottles from La Niña and didn't have any more room to bring back more wine. Fortunately, one of their distributors is Total Wine, which is all over the Northwest.  I'll be looking for the 2014 Carmenère, my new favorite grape!

And finally, for my friends and family in Portland and Seattle, if you thought throwing something away was challenging in the Northwest, imagine figuring out which bin to to use in Chile when faced with this:



I only scratched the surface on this beautiful country. I hope to go back and experience more!

Day 12 - Paris Walking Tour

My agenda for today is JD's Walking Tour of Paris, which I'm going to make up as a I go along. I started out from my apartment and walked straight to the Seine. I walked along the left bank until I came to Notre Dame.

It was a beautiful sunny day and there were tons of people all around and lined up to get in. I was happy just to look at the outside. I hadn't walked that far, but I was ready for lunch. Let's get off this island and away from Notre Dame to find a place. I crossed a bridge, but I'm not on the right bank. I'm on another island. I'd like to get off this too. A few blocks in from the river I found this place.

Quiche with Broccoli! And salad. What a lovely day to sit outside in the sun. I hadn't heard anyone speaking German in Switzerland and that's one of the official languages. Today I heard two couples speaking German at this cafe. It's an international city and a touristy place.

After lunch I walked back to the river and continued on along it until I came to the Louvre.

That glass pyramid is the entrance the the Louvre. I'm not going in today. Just pyramid shopping.

This next tourist landmark is for my mom. She'll recognize it. For the rest of you it's a quiz. Where am I?

Now, there's one more large landmark to find. It looks like it's somewhat near the river. And looks like it's not that far away. Here's my favorite sign in Paris.

I guess that means wrong way to Eiffel Tower. Not sure why it's bent. Is that to tell you which way to go? Or just so it'll fit on the sign? And this sign is only for cars. If you're on foot, this is precisely the way to go. And voila!

I think I've put in about 5 miles walking. Time to find a Metro station to head back. There's a Tour Eiffel station, but I can't find it. I started walking back to the river and found the Invalides station. The big map on the wall says the C line should take me back to Gare d'Austerlie. Found the platform for the C train, but which C train do I want? The trains have video displays that list all the stops for the next train to arrive. But, Gare d'Austerlie isn't on either track. If I'd been paying more attention I'd have noticed that both trains were heading in the same direction. Not the direction that I wanted to go. There must have been another platform with trains heading the other way. I finally got on one of the wrong trains and rode it one stop the wrong way. I had to exit the station and cross the street and enter again to go back the other way. Now, it's getting late and I have a 7pm dinner reservation at Trumilou. I better just get off at Notre Dame and head straight to dinner.

Debra and Peter, whom I met last night, were right. This is a great restaurant. I had the artichoke salad and then the duck breast with fruit sauce. Excellent. I also ordered a carafe of Bordeaux and a carafe of water. I thought if I had a carafe of water sitting on the table that that would be good for me even if I didn't drink any of it. I drank all the Bordeaux, of course. Pear tart for dessert. I love Paris at dinnertime!

It's been a lovely day and I need to make it an early night. Have to get up at 6:00 to get to the airport for my trip home. Au revoir, Paris. I'll be back.

Day 11 - Hello Paris

Today I had to get up at the crack of 10:00 to catch the train to Lausanne. I had saved 6 francs and change for my ticket, which was only 5.80, so now I have exactly 1 franc in dimes and double dimes. Oh, wait, this one is a 1/2 franc. These are close in size to a dime. Okay 1.40 francs left over. Close enough for government work. 

I have 45 minutes in Lausanne before my train to Geneva. I figured that was better than 15 minutes, but these trains here run like clockwork. Even 5 minutes would have been enough time. I found a cafe. Oh, look! Croissant for 1.30. Wait. Croissant Rustico for 1.40. Perfect. No more francs. And a yummy croissant to boot. 

In Geneva I change to the TGV (Train of Great Velocity) and am now hurtling towards Paris at 110 mph. Arriving at Gare du Lyon, it's a 5 minute walk to the apartment I rented (on AirBnB). I found a place close to the gare (station) so I wouldn't have to walk far. And I made it without a single misstep. 

This apartment is tiny. Maybe 12' by 12'. The bathroom has less than 2' square in front of a sink that is smaller than a turkey platter. Shower looks big enough. But it's clean and neat. And best of all--It's in Paris! 

Time to explore the neighborhood. Oh, it's near La Bastille. 

That's the Bastille at the end of the waterway. No, this is not the Seine, but it connects to it. 

Wandering around some more I found Henry the 4th Street. That sounds fun. And that direction should be the river. I found a nice looking cafe, Café Margot, with a few people sitting outside drinking coffee. I sit and order myself a coffee. I can't believe I am here again. It's been 3 years, 6 months and 8 days, but who's counting? Not me. I made up the days. It's been about 3 and a half years. The couple at the next table ask for a menu, but it's too early. They don't start serving dinner till 7pm. 

I wandered around some more and wound up back at Café Margot for dinner. Wine, filet minion de porc, and Armagnac. I suppose I could check out the dessert menu. Profiterole GÉANTE. Oh, I love those. 

Yes, that's gigantic. I ask the couple at the next table to help me with it after it is delivered to their table by mistake. 

As I was leaving I stopped to say hello to another couple that sounded American. She sounded like she was from New York. Sure enough, she was born in Ridgewood, NJ. He's Australia and has lived all over. They now live in Paris around the corner near the river. I ask for restaurant recommendations for tomorrow. Do I like duck? But, of course! Then I have to go to Trumilou just past the Pont Louis Phillipe. I have a plan for tomorrow. 

Cully Day 10 - Last Night of the Festival

The last night of the festival started on mainstage #2 with the rhythmic magic of Bassekou Kouyaté and his ngoni band.

That's Bassekou in the brown. His wife sings, his two sons also play ngoni as does his brother (far left). Another brother plays drums. An interesting spherical drum. And there's also a percussionist, who I think was not related to him, but I'm not sure as my French is quite limited.

They are from Mali and the ngoni is a guitar-like instrument. It was amusing seeing these handmade instruments with guitar cords coming out of them. It was joyous, rhythmic music. I loved it. I stayed for the whole set. Ninety minutes standing on the concrete floor--it was worth it.

The percussionist was the most amazing. He played a drum like a... Let's see if I have a picture.

Well, you can sort of see it. It looks like a rolled up Sunday New York Times under his left armpit. He played it with a wooden stick with a hook at the end and with his hand. His hands were moving so fast they were just a blur.

Next, I headed over to mainstage #1 to hear French trumpeter, Ibrahim Maalouf. He had 4 trumpets, including himself, guitar, keyboard, bass and drums. It was a photographer's nightmare. The stage was either bathed in red light or there were white spotlights shining out into the audience. My iPhone camera and I were not up to the task of capturing it. It was fun, high energy music, but I was unable to get a seat and couldn't stand up any more, so I only stayed for the first few songs.

I have set myself a task for my last night in Switzerland to spend all my Swiss francs. I can change bills back into US dollars at home, but I mostly have coins. They have 5, 2, 1, 1/2, .20 and .10 coins. So I head over to the store to check out the T-shirts. 29 francs for a T-shirt. Expensive, but it'll make a better souvenir than a bunch of coins. I need 6 for the train to Lausanne tomorrow and another 6 for my midnight waffle fix. That leaves just enough to try the hot spiced wine at the tea vendor. Perfect. Rosé wine and not a lot of spice. Okay, not so perfect, but it was worth trying.

It's not quite midnight, but I'm ready for that waffle! I opt for the Grand Marnier waffle tonight. They have the Grand Marnier in what looks like a Windex bottle. When you order they spray on the booze--both sides! Pretty darn yum.

After 10 days I'm a little festivaled out. But there's a soothing tenor sax sound coming from Caveau des Amis. They have the stage set up so you can just see the piano from street if you stand at the door in just the right spot. I hang out on the street for the end of "Misty". It's just piano and sax. Quite enjoyable. They take a break after "Misty" and I wander off.

Caveau de l'Union has advanced a decade from 60's rock to 70's rock. It looks a lot like the band from last night also, except the keyboard player is on the right tonight.

The place is packed, but I manage to make my way in and find a place to lean on the bar. Wow, it's getting even more crowded. Ooo, the guy in front of me has a nice jacket. Feels like cashmere. I wasn't trying to feel it. He just backed up into me as the crowd swelled. It was fun, I love 70's rock. That's my era. I think the music you listen to in high school always has a special place in your heart.

After a few songs I realized I wanted to hear more of that sax and piano duo. I also started getting into jazz in high school. And you all know how I feel about that art form. Back at Caveau des Amis they were still on break and I was able to get in and get a seat. Yippee! They started the next set with "Ain't Misbehavin", but with the bridge from "Misty". On every chorus. They must really like that bridge. They did a stride piano version of "Softly" which I thought was a little odd. And a beautiful rendition of "Georgia". And on "Blue Monk" the sax player really got to honking!

Well, on that note I'm ready to leave Cully filled up with le jazz.

Cully Day 9 - Friday Night at the Festival

It's Friday night in Cully and the festival is in full festive mode. American Akua Naru is getting the party started in mainstage #2 with her blend of jazz and hip-hop. She's dynamic and gets the crowd going right away. I didn't even know I liked hip-hop. Though I think adding a saxophone doesn't really make it jazz. Much as I like adding a saxophone to everything. And adding bacon to everything!

I got there early to get chunk of floor to stand on a spot of wall to lean on. Now the place is packed. After the 2nd song I start making my way to the door when I realized it's not really my cup of tea. It's not my bouteille de vin either. Now this, is my bouteille de vin.

The Gamay from Lutry, my favorite of the local wines. It was a beautiful day to sit outside and drink wine and eat fish and chips from the local pecherie. I'm guessing that means fish monger. Perch today. Yummy!

Now into mainstage #1 to hear the Swiss Stefan Aeby and his trio.

I'd put that solidly in the jazz category. Good stuff. 

After a 20 minute intermission where I walk around and stretch my legs, I'm back in mainstage #1 to hear Randy Weston & Billy Harper.

They are touring in support of their latest recording, "The Roots of the Blues", and playing mostly original compositions. A great show. Stellar. I put this with Avishai Cohen at the top of my festival favorites.

After nine days of festivaling, I'm going to call it an early night and maybe get back to the house before 2am. But there's an interesting duo at Caveau des Amis (Friends Cellar). I paid 5 francs to become a friend of the festival. I've got to stand here a bit and listen.

And what's that I hear? A 60's rock and roll band at Caveau de l'Union! And there's people dancing. And now the guitar player comes down off the stage in the middle of his solo to dance with the crowd. I don't think the 60's were ever like this. I didn't even know the 10's were like this. The 2010's that is. Is that what we'll call this decade when we look back in 50 years?