Klarinet Archive - Posting 000190.txt from 1995/10

From: OLIVER SEELY <oliver@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Sightseeing clarinetist in France
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 13:37:25 -0400

I go to France on the average of one month a year and have
done so for the last ten years or so. At one time or another
I've been to nearly every part of the Hexagone (as the natives
like to refer to their country). I drink tap water wherever
I stay (wine, too, of course) and I've never had any problems.
Bottled water has become a very big thing with the French I
suppose because of the general deterioration of the quality
of tap water in developed countries. It is in my opinion
about 50-50 hype and substance. After all, it was just a
couple of years since the disclosure that Perrier or maybe Vittel
discovered chlorinated hydrocarbons in their bottled water.
So I wouldn't worry about the tap water.

I'm embarrassed to say that I've never visited either the Selmer
or Buffet factories. They are in a town northwest of Paris
and, I'm told, practically across the street from each other.
I don't have a map of the region conveniently available right
now, but as I recall they are about 6 or 7 zones outside of
Paris, so a round-trip fare would run you maybe 50-60 francs
($10-$12). The closest I've ever gotten is when I went to
Selmer-Feeling, the in-Paris Musique Distributeur of Selmer
at 61, rue de Rome in the 8th arrondisement, where I bought
a new mouthpiece. My friends and colleagues tell me that they
haven't noticed any change in my mental stability since then,
but I've always suspected that they say other things behind
my back. 8-)

I'd be interested in reading anyone's experience during a visit
to either of those two factories (and the name of the town,
which I forget).

Oliver