Sorry I couldn't get some time off while you were here.
I wouldn't say ukuleles are considered toys here, even in the general opinion we've now had a good decade of televised talent shows that have at least one ukulele player per season;
artists that include a short ukulele set in their regular concerts; classroom initiations. I think he exaggerated.
....
But I think it also has to do with music shops just stocking a few 'regular' ukulele string sets ...... But we're still better off than mandolin or banjo players.
So right you are.
I didn't take the owner's statement as pejorative. He explained that the plastic and "lesser" ukes were sold by the truck full to schools that use them to teach music theory.
What could be wrong with that? And, no one expects ...or SHOULD expect.... a store to keep items in stock that they won't sell.
In fact both your music store tips in Brugge, including his shop and Key Music were highlights of the trip. And, the visit to Key Music netted both a great keepsake ukulele which triggered
a quest for a set of strings with a of Low G. I looked all over the place in Belgium and France. And, not that it was necessary to do so, and even though
none were found, the search yielded many other pleasant encounters. No matter, anyway. Where I live in the bowels of California, I have never found a set of strings like this
in a music shop, either. Even if they sell ukes.
To be completely fair, I wasn't able to go out in Paris and look around. We had a mandate to deliver a deceased friend's ashes to the Seine. On the way, my generally street savvy wife
was ripped of two wallets in the Metro. Dark, rainy, crowded day on the Metro. And she, for once, let her guard down. We were fish in a barrel.
Even with the four days there, and after four similar trips under our belts, trying to perform the difficult task of living like a Parisian with open minds, open hearts, and closed mouths,
we decided that we will steer clear of Paris in the future. It's a city much different than our first visit almost twenty years ago.
But Brugge? Beautiful, friendly, and a gem. Embrace the tourists. Walk in the marketplace in the rain during Market Day...Ride the boat for the fourth time....And stay in an apartment for four days.
I wish it had been four months....Or more.
Plus, even as a low end representation, I had a new uke to keep me warm! One I couldn't give away....This trip.