Monday - 10/21
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| Chorizo and Olive |
Today was Gracie's birthday so we tried to go eat at an Indian restaurant. However, their website, which said they were open on Monday nights, lied to us and it was actually closed. Because most of the other restaurants in the area were also closed, we settled for some pizza, which turned out to be delicious.
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| Veggie |
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| 4 cheese |
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| Seafood |
Tuesday - 10/22
Just an ordinary Tuesday will film class and some work. I went to the Ménilmontant farmer's market in the morning to get some fresh fruit.
Wednesday - 10/23
Tonight I attended another Concert au Louvre, this one performed by a very talented 22 year old named Daniil Trifonov. His playing was absolutely fantastic and the poor kid ended up giving three encores! It's unbelievable to think that a kid who is only two years older than me has reached such a high level in his musicianship. I hope that one day I can be just as successful in whatever I choose to do.
Thursday - 10/24
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| Opéra Garnier |
Double whammy of spectacles for this week! I saw my first opera called Cosi fan Tutte by Mozart at the Opera Garnier. This was one of my bonus spectacles and I am super happy that I got it because the opera house as beautiful, inside and out. The white marble and gold-detailed exterior was lit up with warm glowing lights. Men and women where arriving in fancy and exiting the metro in crisp suits and stiletto heels, everyone rushing into the opera house in the last fifteen minutes before the show started. It was exactly as I has pictured it.
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| Doors to our box seats |
The interior of the opera house should be a museum because it is a work of art itself. The architecture featured marble and precious stones erected in majestic columns and expansive stairs. Romantic balconies overlooked the grand entrance hall on three different levels. Even the audience seating was exquisite. The ticket that CUPA gave me was a box seat on the second level. In order to reach our actual seats, we had to wait for an usher to come by and open the door with a special key. Each box had seats for 6 people in rows of two. I am pretty sure my ticket said I was seat 3, but since I was the first one there, I took a seat in the front row. I'm glad I did because it is impossibly difficult to see from the other two rows due to the walls that separated each of the boxes. I think this has to do with the nature of operas when the opera house was first built. The upper class, who were the only ones to come see this sort of thing, used the opera house as a place for business and socializing more than anything else. Thus, the seats gave you an excellent view of the other people in the audience so you could gossip and compare outfits and what not. Being able to see the actual performance was not the top priority.
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| The incredible Chagall ceiling in the opera house |
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| View of the audience from my box |
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| Waiting for the show |
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| Bravo! |
Before I went to see Cosi fan tutte, I did a little bit of prior research so I wouldn't be completely lost during the performance. It's a good thing I did because the opera is in Italian and the subtitles were in French. The general story is about two friends who are elated over the faithfulness of their wives. However, this old guy named Don Alfonso has to add his two cents and says that women are fickle and he can prove it, making a bet with the two men. He makes them play a trick on their wives by pretending to go off to war, then disguise themselves as Albanian men to try to woo the other's wife. Although the women remain steadfast at first, the guys are basically showering them with presents and kisses and eventually the women give in, flirt back, and "fall in love". a stage an impromptu with the Albanians. The guys are completely distraught and stage the revealing of their trick to their wives. The women realize what happened, everyone is forgiven, and they all live happily ever after. The end.
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Tutus of the opera
(Swan Lake is on the left) |
During the intermission, we went out and explored a little. In the basement, there were glass cases filled with costumes from famous performances. I thought that the case of white tutus was especially exquisite. We also went down to the orchestra level seating so we could get a better view of the pit as well as the mural on the ceiling. It is a collage of scenes from difference operas and ballets with the name of the composer written next to them. A few that I could pick out include Swan Lake, Marriage of Figaro, Giselle, and Romeo and Juliet.
Friday - 10/25
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| Porcelain bridge |
This afternoon, Aly, Gracie, and I tried to go the the Musée de l'Orangerie, but they didn't seem to take our art student cards. (which was just as well because I seemed to have forgotten my wallet at home.) We ended up walking around the Gardin de Tuileries instead and saw lots of installations for the FIAC (Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain event, which was only open for that week.
Eventually we sat down in some lounge chairs around the fountain and chatted away under the safety of our umbrellas against the on-and- off drizzle. It was a perfect spot to people watch and debate about random topics. Even though today was slightly disappointing because we couldn't get into the museum, we were looking forward to our trip to Versailles on Saturday.
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| Golden gates of Versailles |
Saturday - 10/26
Super fun day at the Chateau de Versailles! By now, it is a common theme that a miracle has happened when we end up getting to where we plan on going. Aly, Cerise, Gracie, Helen and I planned to meet at the candy shop right outside of the metro exit in the Montparnasse train station but people were late and there was some mix up about where to meet. We ended up missing the 1 pm train my a minute or so, but the next one was only half an hour later. The ride to Versailles was only around 25 mins, and because it was the weekend, the trip was free with our navigo cards.
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| Chateau Versailles 2011 |
I visited the chateau with my family the summer before freshman year of college. We spent a lot of time carefully going into each of the rooms and listing to our audio-guide, but we didn't have time to go into the garden. Versailles is the largest palace in France covering over 2000 acres of ground with 230 acres of garden. Today was second to last day of the fountain shows in the gardens so we decided to make exploring the grounds a priority.
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| Louis XIV in front of his humble abode |
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| Samosas = happiness |
On the walk to the Chateau from the train station, Gracie and Helen stopped to get a bite to eat at a South Asian restaurant. They each came out with two hot and steamy samosas and ate on them on the walk to the chateau. At first, the weather was really nice and sunny, but it seemed the closer we got to the palace, the colder and windier it got. Fortunately, it was only intermittently cloudy and did not rain.
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| Ceiling under reparations |
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| Grand foyer |
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| Hall of mirrors |
We tried to go relatively quickly through the rooms of the chateau so we could have plenty of time outside meandering through the gardens. There was a fountain show at 5:20 pm at the Neptune Fountain. I expected it to be super extravageant, with water pulsing to the rhythm of the music, however, it was just he fountains on full blast for the duration of the music. It was slightly under-whelming and we were sprayed with sulfuric water.
Afterwards we headed to the Hamlet of Marie Antoinette which was a half hour walk away, but well worth the effort. Both the house and the gardens were far more modest less huge. The sunset was gorgeous, the sky looked like it was on fire and the sun cast golden light on all of the buildings.
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| Versailles at night |
We caught a bus back to the station, right on time to catch the 7:47 train back to Paris. It was an express train, with standing room only and everyone was squished one on top of another. Every time the train swayed the whole group toppled from one side of train to the other. It was a pretty hilarious sight.
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| Missaratou and Jean-Claude |
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| Rather rare meat |
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| Chocolate almond cake |
The other girls went back to the Indian restaurant, but I was heading home because I was invited to a birthday dinner for my host dad's brother, Jean-Claude. He works in the film industry and looks frighteningly similar to actor Steve Buscemi. We had a lovely dinner with a poached roast that was super rare. I decided to pass on that course.
Sunday - 10/27
Day light savings actually ends a week earlier in France than it does in the US so I enjoyed a lovely day of extra sleep!
Today was Gracie's birthday so we tried to go eat at an Indian restaurant. However, their website, which said they were open on Monday nights, lied to us and it was actually closed. Because most of the other restaurants in the area were also closed, we settled for some pizza, which turned out to be delicious.
Double whammy of spectacles for this week! I saw my first opera called Cosi fan Tutte by Mozart at the Opera Garnier. This was one of my bonus spectacles and I am super happy that I got it because the opera house as beautiful, inside and out. The white marble and gold-detailed exterior was lit up with warm glowing lights. Men and women where arriving in fancy and exiting the metro in crisp suits and stiletto heels, everyone rushing into the opera house in the last fifteen minutes before the show started. It was exactly as I has pictured it.
The interior of the opera house should be a museum because it is a work of art itself. The architecture featured marble and precious stones erected in majestic columns and expansive stairs. Romantic balconies overlooked the grand entrance hall on three different levels. Even the audience seating was exquisite. The ticket that CUPA gave me was a box seat on the second level. In order to reach our actual seats, we had to wait for an usher to come by and open the door with a special key. Each box had seats for 6 people in rows of two. I am pretty sure my ticket said I was seat 3, but since I was the first one there, I took a seat in the front row. I'm glad I did because it is impossibly difficult to see from the other two rows due to the walls that separated each of the boxes. I think this has to do with the nature of operas when the opera house was first built. The upper class, who were the only ones to come see this sort of thing, used the opera house as a place for business and socializing more than anything else. Thus, the seats gave you an excellent view of the other people in the audience so you could gossip and compare outfits and what not. Being able to see the actual performance was not the top priority. 
Eventually we sat down in some lounge chairs around the fountain and chatted away under the safety of our umbrellas against the on-and- off drizzle. It was a perfect spot to people watch and debate about random topics. Even though today was slightly disappointing because we couldn't get into the museum, we were looking forward to our trip to Versailles on Saturday.
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