Today is the last day of the congress and since it's also the 14th of July there is a lot of unconnected celebration going on.  I saw the military practising last night for a parade today and this evening there will be a fireworks display.

I saw the soldiers as I was en route to the last big main evening concert.  The first was a classical do (all modern and including three work premieres) featuring the Strasbourg Philharmonic and a dozen major sax players.  It was a great evening.  I particularly enjoyed hearing a Danish girl but never came across her again.  Maybe she did only one gig or maybe she played in one of the 410 gigs I didn't get to.

 The restaurateurs of Strasbourg had pulled out all the stops to provide wonderful and plentiful drink and nibbles afterwards.  I hope enough of the two thousand or so who were in the audience turned up later at their restaurants to make it worth their while.  I didn't, but there is still tonight.

Last night was a more eclectic affair, with classical improvisation, world music in the shape of a duo composed of tenor sax and an oriental stringed instrument, jazzmen of various sorts and a tremendous Brazilian big band.

This picture was taken just before the show started.  The people on stage are the team who organised the congress making various announcements and little speeches.  The pictures I took later of the big band etc need a bit of imagination to interpret but this one is not too bad.

This morning there was a meeting at which the international committee that looks after things was elected.  Then there was a presentation by a representative of the city that would like to host the next congress and Zagreb was approved with only a few dissenting votes and no FIFA style shenanigans.  I left my Croatian phrasebook with Fiona in Hvar.  Time to reclaim it.

After the business came food and drink picnic style in the lovely park that Napoleon Bonaparte laid out for Josephine.  A delightful day and it's not over yet. One final open air bash by Sax Assault featuring the sax players from Duran Duran and Supertramp.

Tomorrow I head for Brussels via the home town of who else but Adolphe Sax.