Culture & Studies

If I haven’t written in a while, it’s because I’m been completely busy. Well, that’s not true, but I’ve certainly been finding ways to occupy my time.

I have 5 CUPA spectacles in a 2 ½ week period, the last one of which is tonight. CUPA spectacles are pretty awesome; at the beginning of the semester, we pick four shows we want to go to out of a list of operas, plays, concerts, and dance shows. But we can also sign up on waitlists for the other shows, which resulted in me ending up with eight different tickets (as of this writing – who knows what the next month holds!). This past Monday was Die Zauberflöte, or the Magic Flute. It was… bizarre, in a word. I expected something very spectacularly operatic, but it was a very pared-down modern version. Instead of the Queen of the Night flying in in a big dress, you didn’t even realize it was her until she started trying to seduce Tamino. In this version, the opera’s Masonic themes were glaringly obvious, never more so than when all 67 singers, clothed in black and wearing opaque veils, stood in a giant circle and chanted as Tamino and Papageno descended into a tomb. And with all of the pomp and circumstance and flying stripped away, you also realize some of the sexism and racism in the opera that you’d never noticed before.

The following night was “Un chapeau de paille d’Italie” at la Commédie Française, which is the story of a man whose horse eats a woman’s hat on his wedding day, and he spends the whole play running around visiting different people to try and find an identical copy of her hat while avoiding letting his betrothed know about it. It was definitely amusing, made more so by the artistic decision to add an electric guitarist and a violinist to the cast and have a good third of the lines in the play be sung along to very modern music. This Monday was another show at la Commédie Française, although this time a tragedy: Andromaque. I will admit to falling asleep for morsels of it, but I also really enjoyed it. The actors were all pretty powerful, especially the actresses playing Andromaque and Hermione. Hermione was without doubt my favorite – I really liked the actress’ portrayal of her. I also liked the actress playing her handmaiden, Cléone; she had a really interesting voice and look, both of which reminded me of Audrey Tautou.

Tonight is “Le Faiseur,” a play by Balzac.

School has been fairly hard, especially last week. Monday was my first major assignment, an exposé for my “Drawings of the 18^th century” class. This is a 20-25 minute presentation on the artist we were assigned, inclusive of an artistic analysis of his work and career across one particular piece of his art. I was given Pieter Boel, and so spent all weekend finalizing my presentation on his ostrich sketches and paintings. I was nervous, and so worried about messing up grammar or forgetting important technical vocabulary that I ended up pretty much reading my entire presentation straight from the document I’d typed up, except for when I was pointing something out on my powerpoint. My presentation was also too short, but overall I’m pretty happy with how it went.

A Pieter Boel sketch of ostrich legs

 

Thursday night was my France of Louis XIV TD. I was expecting a slow class, since it was only expected to be 45 minutes long – but just the opposite! The student who was supposed to give the oral commentary sent our professor an e-mail right before class saying that they weren’t going to show up. So our professor dealt with it by having us write a commentary on the assigned text in the 45 minutes of classtime instead. I was so unprepared for this. The last commentary I wrote in French was on the French A1 IB exam, almost three years ago. In fact, I think that may have been the last commentary I wrote in any language. So to say I’m rusty is a bit of an understatement. Still, it probably went okay; I’m just going to have to wait to find out. Tomorrow is another written assignment for the same class, a dissertation-type piece, but while I’m not looking forward to it at least we’re expecting this one!

My demi-pointes for dance class!

 

My dance class is a lot of fun. I’m taking classical dance at the Centre de Danse du Marais, and I go there 2-3 times each week. I had my 8^th class yesterday (my 5^th of full classical dance – the others are Barre au Sol classes that work on classical dance exercises on the floor) and I feel like I’m definitely getting a lot better. My teacher even said so after class yesterday! Up until yesterday I was the newest student, but when two newer students joined I could finally see how much I have improved.

Tuesday was made even better by going out to a lovely lunch with another CUPA student after dance class and having a wonderful conversation completely in French.

Tagliatelle carbonara and white wine

 

I also went shopping on Friday because Yves Rocher was having a 50% off sale, so now I’m fully stocked up on a variety of very French skin products, which I’m excited to try out. After all the walking I did this weekend (an update on that coming up soon!), the foot scrub is definitely my current favorite.

À bientôt!

P.S. “Le Faiseur” was fantastic! I loved the play, the ABBA music they inserted, and the actors, but the set was my absolute favorite. It was a three-piece moving set, with doors and trapdoors and parts that flipped up to become doorways. The set also changed to various levels of steepness to reflect events in the play,  leaving the actors to loom over each other or slip down the inclines in different scenes.

The Beautiful Road to Rouen

Last week was my winter vacation at La Sorbonne, and so I booked last-minute train tickets and headed out to the train station first thing Wednesday morning, arriving in Rouen at 9am. The day started off dreary – rainy, cold, and I was feeling a little tired and unadventurous due to lack of sleep. I hung out in the tourist office for a while, going over maps and trying to figure out what I wanted to do (also avoiding the cold).

My trusty map, now a little worse for wear.

But soon enough I was on my feet, crossing the square to tour Rouen’s well-known cathedral, made famous by Monet’s series paintings. I suppose my expectations were too high, but it didn’t really impress me. It was cold inside, so big that it was empty-feeling, and filled with a lot of very white light. The facade so adored by Monet was also being cleaned, and so it was partially covered with white tarps.

But as soon as I exited the cathedral, everything changed. The sun was out, filling the plaza with warmth. I began to feel awake, excited, and ready to explore. I first stumbled across the church of Saint-Maclou, which in my opinion has an even more stunning exterior than the cathedral, and is even prettier because of its smaller size. I then wandered the streets for another hour, checking out lunch possibilities and wondering at the huge number of timber-framed houses, charming and painted in an amazing range of colors.

 

These buildings were no doubt my favorite part of Rouen. Initially I thought they were rare, occasional leftovers from the Middle Ages, but I soon discovered how wrong I was — apparently there are over 2000 half-timber houses in Rouen today. Then I thought I’d seen all possible types of houses, but even at the very end of my visit the city was still surprising me with new colors, new textures, and new architectures.

  

I was really excited about the place I’d chosen for lunch, but both the seafood and the white wine ended up being disappointing. After my very leisurely sunlit lunch I checked in at my hotel and relaxed there for a little bit before visiting the Gros-Horloge, which was probably the best part of my day.

It’s a clocktower, with beautiful twin clockfaces that tell not only the time of day but also the moon cycle and the day of the week. It has one of the most ancient clock mechanisms in France, installed in 1389. What’s also cool about the clock is that its mechanism isn’t behind the clock face; it’s actually located at the top of the clocktower, a good 4-5 stories higher and to the side. I climbed all the way to the top, where there’s a balcony that gives you a 360° view of the city. The sun was just starting to set, the view was amazing, the light was perfect…

   

From the city, you don’t even realize how huge the cathedral is until you take a step back, or rather up. Afterwards I returned to my hotel and sort of took a nap… I ended up trying to get dinner very late, and so the only restaurant that was still open was the same place I’d eaten lunch. Luckily, this time it was delicious. I had lamb in a jus de thym, tender and succulent and perfectly rosé, accompanied by a vin rouge de Bourgogne.

I didn’t leave the restaurant until 11:30, and then I spent the next hour wandering around the city center taking more photos. I ended up with a couple perfect cathedral night photos that I’m pretty proud of, because I had to be patient and inventive because I didn’t have a tripod; trying to hold completely still for 30 seconds is hard! And pressing your camera against a rock wall while leaning into a fence gives you a whole new appreciation for the meaning of awkward positioning. While I was taking this one photo on a side street, this young couple loaned out the window and asked what I was taking a photo of, which was amusing — I must have looked a little creepy, squatting in the street outside their house! I also stumbled across this one street that I’d just read about in an article over dinner — La Rue des Chanoines, a narrow road unchanged since the 15th century.

Photo of the cathedral spire taken from Rue des Chanoines

I slept in a bit the next morning, recovering from my evening escapades. Breakfast became a tea and pain aux amandes avec chocolat from Paul (which is a popular French bakery chain).

This breakfast with this view.

My first stop of the day was at the Abbée de St. Ouen. The space was tall and open and filled with lovely stained glass windows.

I wandered some more (there was definitely a wandering theme to this visit!) until I found a bakery selling avocado-salmon sandwiches. After lunch, I spent two hours at the Musée des Beaux Arts, which was enough time to see it in its entirety. I even got lost once and ended up in security corridor. A kind security guard showed me the way back to the exhibits, but along the way I saw a room full of sculptures not on display!

My favorite room was one that was full of impressionist paintings. It was very peaceful, being surrounded by Monets and Sibleys and Fréchons. There was also an incredibly detailed wood painting which as I photographed I got closer and closer to, trying to capture the detail, every instant expecting to press my camera up against glass… until suddenly I was looking at it from an inch away, and I realized the reason it was so clear is that there wasn’t any glass.

It was pouring down rain when I left, but this was different from yesterday’s rain; lighter, beautiful, more uplifting (or maybe it was just my perspective that had changed). As I arrived in the Place du Vieux Marché, the light transformed the rain into a sunshower, golden droplets misting down to bathe everything in a golden glow. It’s completely true, what they say about the lights in Rouen, how it’s the most beautiful in the world.

Rainshine!

L’Eglise Jeanne d’Arc was modern, but beautiful. I really loved its shape, like an upturned boat or a great fish rising out of the ground. After seeing the church I spent my last hour visiting a few different chocolatiers, buying small selections at each, finally buying those mini chocolate beignets I’d had my eye on the whole time, still feeling amazed every time I saw a new timber house…

I love Rouen. It was very tempting to just stay and catch  a later train back to Paris, but I headed back to the train station for my 4:00 train anyway. It wasn’t until I was on the train home that I realized that this was my second ever completely solo trip, where I’d planned everything from the transportation to the hotel room to the itinerary completely alone. Just as there’s something magical about sharing a special place with another person, there’s also something completely magical about having that place all to yourself to discover.

My Favorite Experiences So Far

– seeing the Venus de Milo at the Louvre

– visiting Château Chenonceau, in the Loire Valley

– stumbling across views of the Eiffel Tower without seeking them out

My first sighting of the Eiffel Tower was my second week in Paris; from the top of Montmartre, I glimpsed the tower through the trees. Then a week later I caught a view of the tower from between two buildings in the 15e. Finally, 4 weeks in, I walked underneath the tower and took photos with it. But my favorite is still the sudden, surprise views I get of it sometimes: This week I turned around on my way to class for some reason and saw the Eiffel Tower across the Luxembourg Gardens — I’d been walking that route at least once a day but had never looked back before! A few days ago, I was walking along the Seine in the rain and saw the Eiffel Tower beautifully shrouded in fog. 

– going on the terrace of the Institut Arabe, and the hypostyle room

– seeing Frozen in French

La Reine des Neiges was amazing, even the 4th time — I don’t think I’ll ever tire of seeing it! I am proud to say that I now have all the lyrics to “Liberee, Delivree” memorized (that’s “Let it Go”), and I’m working on “Je vais feter ce renouveau” (“For the First Time in Forever”).  I really love the French versions of the songs — while some things are lost in translation, like the open door imagery (the French version of “Love is an Open Door” translates to “Love is a Gift”), other unique imagery is created (in “Do you want to build a snowman,” Anna sings that it’s like her sister has turned to ice). 

– walking through the Luxembourg Gardens

I hadn’t been doing this often enough, but now I’m taking more time to enjoy them when I have time between classes.

– couscous dinner at Chez Mamane

While looking for a restaurant in the 13e arrondisement, some other CUPA students and I found a place that serves nothing but cous cous. You order the meat you want, and it arrives accompanied by a gigantic platter of cous cous and bowl of vegetable stew to share. They also had some very intriguing Algerian wine that was unlike anything I had ever tasted before.

– 12-piece string orchestra in Châtelet metro

– Onéguine ballet

I haven’t seen that much ballet, and so this was a great experience. The piece is based on the story of Pushkin’s novel Eugène Onéguine, set to lesser-known music by Tchaikovsky, and choreographed by South African ballet dancer John Cranko.  It was absolutely beautiful.

– tea and fries at Turkish (?) place

This hole-in-the-wall restaurant is located near Sorbonne-Centre Clignancourt. Their menu is varied, so it’s hard to pin down whether they’re Turkish, Greek, or something else along those lines, but whatever their cuisine it’s cheap and delicious. I had the chicken cordon bleu sandwich both times I went. I guess the servers remembered me the second time, because despite ordering the sandwich instead of the menu they gave me a helping of their signature fries and offered me sweet honeyed mint tea, similar to the tea I drank at the Mosquée.

– walking through the courtyard of la Sorbonne

I never fail to be amazed by this! And because of my class schedule, I have the opportunity to see it at all times of day. 

– Julien

Julien is officially my favorite boulangerie. They’re right near CUPA, so I fell in love with them early and since a lot of my classes are still nearby, I go back several times a week. Their chocolat chaud is delicious, and I love their jambon-beurre sandwiches, but my favorite is days where they have their saumon-épinard quiche, which they serve hot. Their pastries are also wonderful!

– 2 encores by Lise de la Salle

– Mariage Frères tea

There is a wonderful crêpe place in Pittsburgh that imports Mariage Frères tea, which is where I was first introduced to it. After daydreaming of it for weeks, I finally went, and wow was it worth the steep price tag. I can’t say enough good things about it. The tea (I ordered Thé de Lune) was delicate enough to drink without milk, and the teapot contained a good 4 or 5 cups worth. The dessert was even more amazing — a Splendeur de Tibet which was a Marco Polo tea-infused crème brûlée topped with the first berries I’ve had since arriving in France. I went with my first new French friend and we sat there for a good two hours eating and talking.