Manuel and I, Bastien, were introduced by a common friend in may 2014.

Even though we had a radically different access and education concerning music, we both experienced a "musical love at first sight”. We continue to play together as much as possible ever since, always improving, playing hours until our fingers bleed.

Being a bicycle freak and an experienced globe-trotter, my plan was to trip by myself to Louisiana in order to eventually get a proper music education. Manuel's plan was to go back to Mexico, his birthplace that he hadn’t seen in twelve years.

We decided to combine both our agendas, to live and experience together a great adventure and an epic trip.

We wish to leave Bordeaux in the beginning of August, following a bicycle path called the vélodyssée to Britanny.

Once there, with a little patience, luck, and the help of a couple of established local contacts, we wish to find a sailboat and a captain who would accept to transport two apprentice sailmen/musicians aboard, with their dismantled bicycles and their instruments.

Our final goal would be to get to Louisiana only thanks to our bodies and the nature's strength, in a nutshell, without ever using a thermic engine.

Since we started playing together, we found ourselves some gigs to play both in Bordeaux and around and also along our future path. We like to play in bars, restaurants, tea houses or any other place where people can take a break, sit and listen to music. We spontaneously propose to perform our music in any kind of establishment.

We also love to play on the streets, the only one stage where we don't need to ask or plan to play on.

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We love to invite our friends to perform with us in the streets

Manuel’s instrument is named Isabelle, she is a Mexican classical guitar. Manuel feeds her scales at least three times a day, and spends at least half of his conscious time on it.

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Manuel and Isabel at the Casa de Zadok & Aurore, in Cudos. Picture by François Guijarro

The instrument I play on is named Sherlock, he's a concert ukulele, a good and solid lad with a body made of brass. But it doesn’t belong to me. I broke mine in a bike accident three months ago in which I also broke my left collarbone and my beloved bicycle.

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Sherlock resting on a couch.

We don't really like either microphones or our instruments to be plugged, so we will do it if necessary, but relunctantly.

During this journey, we wish to play for all kinds of audiences, at places where it's rare to encounter musicians. We often play for free, money is not the primary matter to us.

Sometimes we drop a hat on the ground, letting the people who want to be generous with us. What is the most interesting is what often happens when we don’t directly ask for money : Spontaneous encounters and invitations, human contact, this generosity that will never cease to amaze us.

Chapeausign_

it says "we accept smiles, critics, discussion, ciggies, drinks, Have a great Whit monday"

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