Since my ticket had been so easy to get (student discount = 5 euros!), I figured that it wouldn't be busy, but it seemed like half of Reims was inside. In the States, the only people at a concert like this would be AARP members and a few assorted music nerds. This concert, however, was full of the usual 50+ crowd, but also younger couples with their children. Everyone seemed to know each other and greet one another with the bise (the kiss-kiss that's so typically French). Children played in the far aisles the whole time, but were very quiet. The atmosphere was absolutely divine. Long chandeliers hung from the ceiling and provided the only light besides a few floor lights. It created this amazing glow that made me like the cathedral better at night than durin the day.
The concert itself was fantastic. It was the regular choristers with members of a local choir singing the lower parts. The first half of the concert was all Renaissance era music with the second half full of more modern pieces. Sound in the cathedral echoes so much that I could barely understand the speaker who introduced the choir, but it would've made even a mediocre choir sound good, let alone this one. I hink this was one of the first times that I really missed Peter, too. I went by myself, and was glad since the other kids wouldn't have enjoyed it, but Peter would've loved the whole experience and I kept wishing he could be there with me. We had even sung a song by one of the composers in the choir in which we met.
The cathedral was gorgeous from the outside, too, and the weather was perfect for a night walk home
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