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“Alfred, work harder to let people know about your service: they need to know that you serve more than you try to get“.  Brannon’s final words about the business.

Several weeks have passed since the last blog post was served. To our loyal readers and those of you here for the first time, an explanation for the long silence is past due. It’s with great sadness that I inform you that Brannon Hall-Garcia vice-president of Sirromac Enterprises died of Cancer on June 13. Not only did Brannon play a significant part in the creation of the business through his encouragement and tireless support, he was also first and foremost a devoted friend, a best friend of many years.

A Great Passion for Art & Travel

Brannon embraced an insatiable passion for Art & Travel which made our partnership in the creation of Classic Curios Emporium & Classic Lifetime Travel a harmonious match. We shared this love of Art & Travel, making the process of planning and ‘fact finding’ always adventurous and festive. Brannon was very generous with his enthusiasm and knowledge as we visited museums, art galleries, auction houses, and antique shops. To add even more to our inspiration, we attended business seminars and classes to acquire the skills and tools in preparation of launching the business. Ebay University Classes, Trump University Intensive Seminar, The Synergy Marketing Group Summit (now the dynamic organization that provides our travel products through netTrav Inc), plus The ‘First Steps to Success’ a seminar presented by the world renowned Dani Johnson.

‘Who Traveled The World The Most?’

Hours totaling days, over the years, were spent sharing our travel experiences, particularly our love of the exotic, the art of travel, differences of  foreign countries  and their people.  We often enjoyed boasting, focusing on who had traveled the world the most. After much teasing, it was acknowledged that he had been to all the major cities of South America! But I always got the last word by reminding him that, my next trip to Southeast Asia would be my fifth! Then it was time to open the second bottle of wine. By the way, we were in the same ‘ball park’ with great opera houses and concert halls. What Fun!

Art & Travel Renew The Human Spirit!

There is much more that could be said. It is with great celebration that I dedicate this blog post to Brannon who sincerely wanted the business to be a success. His encouraging words will always resound with great depth. His final comment expressed to me about the business was “Don’t Quit. Don’t Quit. Don’t Quit.” There’s so much great stuff to be shared with like-minded people and those who truly desire to learn more about the renewing powers of Art & Travel. A few days later he made the comment that was used to open this blog post….

Quality Of Service Is The Key!

As my business education and growth of the company continues, it will always be a top priority to remember Brannon’s comments, and not forget that personalized service and attention to detail is the key. As the world society becomes more ’self serving’,  Self Service does not deliver a satisfying experience, when the product being served  is discovery,  joy, adventure, and renewal - in other words -  Art & Travel.

That which we GIVE Away, we always get to KEEP.

Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!

Together Everyone Achieves More!

Alfred
866-470-5700 / Travel@Sirromac.com

Comments and travel memories are welcome!

Popularity: unranked [?]

 Part Two - Celebration in The City of Lights, Paris France.

What an enjoyable moment it is to receive, as the travel agent, notice that your customers were fully satisfied with the travel arrangements made for their trip. I’m delighted to introduce Eric Birk & Bernadette Hoke, who are both established concert artists (organ & piano) living in New York City. It gives me great pleasure to post the Travel Journal - Part Two, of their first trip to Paris France.

Novembre 2007

Continued from  (part 1)

Sunday–  Mass at St. Sulpice!  10:15 Prelude was Bach’s Prelude & Fugue in C (BWV 545), the Offertoire was L. Marchand’s “Basse de trompette,” during communion was Communion sur le répons “ubi caritas,” , and the Postlude was Toccata by J. Lechat.  After the postlude was the “Audition” (not that the organist needs to audition– this means music for listening!), when two movements (2nd & 3rd) of the Widor 5th Symphony were played, followed by improvisation.  

Afterwards, we got to climb the circular stairs to the “sud tour” (south tower) and greet Daniel Roth. He showed us how the organ’s combinations work and (rightfully) bragged about how, thanks to Widor and Dupré, the original actions and mechanisms survive as they were in 1862!  The organ sounded wonderful (except for the seasonally expected intonation irregularities) and he improvised for a full 10 minutes after the postlude and the conclusion of the “audition” following the 10:30 mass (which serves as a prelude for the low mass at noon). We had to wait a awhile but it was worth it to participate on the public side of the tradition begun by Dupré of greeting listeners in the organ gallery after mass.  [But we honestly can’t imagine entertaining at the console every Sunday after services with as much grace and joie de vivre as Mr. Roth!]

After mass, we had to find dejeuner (lunch), and eventually wound up at a café just a block from the Seine in Saint Germain-des-Pres, where Bernadette had an omelette and Eric got onion soup with bread and cheese in it, followed by a chocolate crepe.  

Then we went to a museum, the Musée d’Orsay, where many works by impressionist painters & sculptors are displayed.  It is in a former train station, and it was free!

You can see that the building is as beautiful to behold as its contents!

Then it was off to find St. Clothilde, where Franck, Tournimiere and Langlais all played.  You would think there was some sort of anti-publicity conspiracy: no one we asked had ever heard of the church. (Hotel concierge, newstand clerk, etc.) Imagine!– the church where Franck played!  We finally found it with an address gathered from our hotel concierge via internet, and when we arrived, there was a rather intense neighborhood pick-up soccer game in progress on the front plaza.  On entering, we saw a brilliant basilica church with no mention of any music program or who the current organist is.  (One plaque mentions Franck.)

From there, we walked to find the Church of the Madeleine and seek out dinner possibilities and witnessed some lovely autumn vistas around the Seine: 

-Right Bank on the left (the Louvre) & Notre Dame & Left Bank on the right-

Monday: The Louvre 

End of Day Two - written & photographed by Eric Birk.

We hope you’ll also enjoy the hyper-links provided, particularly the ones offering great moments with Daniel Roth at the magnificent Cavaille-Coll Organ. 

Part Three will be added Tuesday,  February 26.

Reminder: Monthly Vacation Contest Drawing will be held on the fourth Friday.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Is Paris France  still the most Popular Travel Destination? 

What an enjoyable moment it is to receive, as the travel agent, notice that your customers were fully satisfied with the travel arrangements made for their trip. I’m delighted to introduce Eric Birk & Bernadette Hoke, who are both established concert artists (organ & piano) living in New York City. It gives me great pleasure to post the Travel Journal - Part One, of their first trip to Paris France.

Well, we finally got there…

After spending however many years playing French Music (organ and/or piano), and admiring French Art, Cooking, et al… we made it to Paris to celebrate Bernadette’s 50th Birthday. Starting on Friday, Nov. 2 with a meal to end all meals at L’Elysées du Vernet - Hotel Vernet that had us in gastronomic ecstasy with every bite, we had four days of beautiful autumn weather and fit in as much of the main sites of interest that we could. Friday– Shopping at Galeries Lafayette, where it’s Christmas early–just like at home, and general walking around the 8th arrondisement window-shopping and seeing “the Champs”– what must be the world’s widest street, the Champs Elysees (Elysian Fields in English). Very near our hotel was the Arc de Triomphe at the Charles deGaulle Ètoile.
[It was cloudy that day, so this picture is from Monday.]

Saturday — We hit the cobblestones still a bit jet-lagged and only a little hungry for petit-dejeuner (their first meal which barely translates to “breakfast” both linguistically and nutritionally) followed by treks to Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower and scouting out services to attend on Sunday in St. German-du-Pres (St. Sulpice). Notre Dame was magical (that’s where Bernadette sat down under the yellow leaves to take lunch in the upper right photo at the top of this message), and we have photos to prove it!– what else would explain why we couldn’t get one clear photo of the windows?

We wanted to make sure we got to church on Sunday at the right time, so we went by St. Sulpice (where Widor, Dupré, Grunewald, and now Daniel Roth and Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin (Cauchefer-Choplin biography) have been the only titular organists since 1862!) and found that they are in the middle of major restoration. But it is still so awe-inspiring in person. Unlike many churches in Paris, this was not built in the gothic style, but was built with neo-classic arches and towers and does not have the dark windows, fitting for the church of the “holy sepulchre” (the empty tomb of Christ)! The light is like a misty presence from all of the windows. Just as we arrived the sun came out for the first time while we were in Paris! So we got the picture at the upper left of this message and this window. This window has three Delacroix murals (on either side and the ceiling) around it.

End of Day One - written by Eric Birk.

Part Two will be added  tomorrow, February 22.

We hope you’ll also enjoy the hyper-links provided, particularly the ones offering great moments with Daniel Roth and Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin  at the magnificent Cavaille-Coll Organ.