Juan Les Pins  Day 1 Continued

A quick shower, and it's off to the "Grand Musical Dinner" starring The Pinstripe Brass Band at Eden Casino's Grill Restaurant, right next door to our hotel.  There I meet the only other journalist from New York who's made it to this press junket--Sandra Guzman from The New York Post.  Such fun!

Tonight it's an evening devoted to Jazz and Solidarity.  Juan Les Pins and New Orleans are "sister cities" and when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the citizens here were devastated emotionally. Tonight is one of many Hurrican Relief efforts put on by the citizens of Juan Les Pins.  The Jazz Festival that takes place here in Juan Les Pins every July  is the only festival in Europe that tries to truly honor and say "thank you" to the jazz musicians in New Orleans every year for giving the musicians here their musical roots. They take this gift very seriously, and it shows.  The vice mayor who speaks before dinner is talking about how it's the town's moral obligation to do something to help out the city that gave musicians here their history and their start.

A raffle is announced..and the grand prize winner will receive a trip to New Orleans from Nice for music and activities there.....yet another way to say to the people of the world--if we are sending
winners there, we feel it's safe and would encourage anyone to visit the Crescent City again.

Going a step beyond that, the vice mayor announces that the Office of French Affairs based in New York will be holding its major event in New Orleans this October, with 50 of its major tour operators and clients invited....all in the interest of boosting tourism in New Orleans as a show of solidarity.
It's all pretty moving.

Then the Pinstripe Brass band takes over the stage, live from New Orleans. They just have that sound! And arrive complete with a Grand Marshall hoisting a large pink parasol that he weaves with through the tables as the band strikes up "When the Saints Go Marching In," electrifying the room.

Then-a special bonus- The Ladies of Alabama take the stage along with the Pinstripe Band and  lend their voices on several songs that have the room on its collective feet. Sandra and I are feeling no pain by this time, so join the line of marchers/dancers/clappers that are winding around the tables to this infectious music that erases all doubts and fears that the world is gonna be alright. Jetlag? I don't THINK SO!  It's a wonderful way to kick off the week--with style, fun, and meaning.