Back with a Vengeance

Well let me begin by apologizing for my terrible lack of posts recently, but hopefully this monster will make up for it. As I mentioned in my last posting (July 19th, I know, I know) I had come down with a bit of a stomach flu two weeks ago. While the worst of it passed within the week, I was still feeling farily lethargic as of last weekend, and the double threat/treat of the Harry Potter movie and the final Harry Potter book did little to induce much physical activity. So, on Friday I went to my first movie here in France, careful to select the Version Originale, as I had little desire to test my French comprehension on such an important movie. After very much enjoying the movie, my persistent longing to join the wizarding community (who really can prove it doesn't exist, right?) was rekindled and I was immensely glad to have the book to provide some degree of immediate satisfaction. Therefore, on Saturday afternoon, I peddaled my way over to the English bookstore, as we had finally figured out how to get the new bike centers to work, where I had reserved my copy over a month ago. After getting yelled at (sternly warned at least) by an off-duty and rather grumpy gendarme (police man) for riding my bike instead of walking it while crossing the street at a pedestrian walkway, I arrived giddy with anticipation and quickly got my precious copy of the book, shoved it in my bag, and headed back to the apartment. Emerging only for food and a trip to the market (where I procured delicious, ruby red strawberries), I finished it Monday morning around 3am, very content, despite the sadness of knowing that I had completed the series. I apologize for the unnecessarily detailed description of getting and reading a book, but I'm trying to make up for my lack of recent content :)

Anyway, work continues to be interesting as I'm working on some fun projects at the moment. I made several skin jewelry butterflies (see practice pieces in picture and then imagine them with crystals as well as glitter) for a pop star on Monday and Tuesday and more recently began to work on another project that is quite exciting. Unfortunately, I believe it is proprietary so I don't think I should discuss much in depth, but essentially I've been designing and creating ideas for various press pieces for a HUGE French fashion house and there is a good chance that something I design and/or make will be presented to the designer himself! We also moved to a new location this past weekend which is much bigger, so I'm excited to see it and enjoy the extra room. Additionally, getting settled proved to require a bit more than just a weekend, so I had an unexpected day off today which I spent lounging, discovering absolutely wonderful new pastries, and doing some of my own sketching. It was especially nice to have a free day since my weekend was fairly packed with activity, all of which will be described below.

Friday evening I went to a nice dinner in the 14th arrondissement with Katerina and a group of new acquaintances whom I met through a rather bizarre series of events. Apparently an expat living in Vienna named Chris decided to create a blog with the purpose of finding the best steak tartare in Paris, and as I had mentioned my encounter with the French specialty of ground up raw meat and seasonings in one of my early entries, he asked me to review the restaurant and the dish on his blog. After a few emails exchanged, he invited me and my roommate, a steak tartare virgin, to come to dinner with him and his wife and their two friends living in Paris. As I hadn't really gone out to a nice meal yet in Paris and had managed to save a little of my pay while I was sick, I decided to splurge a bit and enjoyed a very nice meal at a little restaurant called Le Severo. The only downside to the meal, which was admittedly a rather large downside, was that the restaurant was out of steak tartare when we arrived. The owner/chef, like many Parisians, takes the month of August off and therefore he didn't have his full selection of stock on Friday since he was leaving on vacation the next day. I still enjoyed a hearty steak and frites though, along with some excellent red wine and very pleasant company.

The next day was the real highlight of the weekend though, if not my time in France thus far. After seeing several posters on the subway for spectacles at Versailles, including the English National Ballet perfoming Swan Lake, I decided I should check out the website. Upon discovering that Swan Lake would actually be performed outside in the gardens on a stage IN the Basin of Neptune, I decided I had to see it, and my roommates should also. Therefore, I bought four tickets online, each about $40, and hoped that they would be as excited as I was. Fortunately two of the other roommates did want to go, as well as a friend of the other, so I didn't take any financial hit on the impulse. We decided to make a day of the outing as well by going to see the actual palace and grounds during the day. After some stealthy online research, I found out that students of art in any form (art history, architecture, industrial design, studio art) get into Versailles for free. Now normally I don't mind paying to get into museums that much, but Versailles lacked a normal student discount and also cost 15 Euros! Therefore, I decided to email the Versailles information desk to find out if I qualified for the discount, and if so, how I should prove it. I was informed that I did qualify, but apparently French student cards list the student's concentration, which my Dartmouth card does not, and nor does the Harvard card. Therefore, I decided to fix up a little supplementary ID page with the help of Photoshop and some Dartmouth websites. As the Harvard kids are all on a budget as well, despite not being art majors, they also made some supplementary ID pages which we then printed out at an internet cafe. To our luck, the IDs worked perfectly, allowing us to both bypass the long line and enter for free! As I am a legitimate art student, I feel no remorse, but the Harvard kids better all take an art class before they graduate.

Although I'd visited Versailles last time I was in Paris, it's a much more impressive sight when in full bloom. As with last time, I wasn't immensely impressed by the interior exhibition portion, although it's clear that it would have been absolutely stunning in its day. Perhaps its the mobs of slow moving people, but much of the interior isn't furnished other than beautiful tables and numerous paintings. The newly restored Hall of Mirrors was gorgeous though and must have been spectacular when populated by ornately dressed members of the royal court. The grounds were gorgeous though, and I think the most impressive and awesome part of Versailles is the sheer size of it. Viewed from a distance with the rows of neatly manicured hedges, grass, and flowers, the effect is truly stunning. Having packed picnics, we all decided to enjoy the effect by lounging at the side of the grand canal and watching the people struggling to effectively row the rented boats.

About an hour before the perfomance, we packed up our picnic, did a quick tour of the bit of city around the chateau, used the bathroom, and then returned to the gardens for Swan Lake. Upon viewing the stage in the large fountain, I knew I would not be disappointed. The stage was literally in the fountain, with the statue of Neptune rising from the water behind the stage, and the enormous Chateau provided a lovely background, joined later by a full moon. Additionally, a row of fountains went up the path behind the fountain toward the Chateau and could be heard cascading down whenever there was quiter part in the music. The performance itself was absolutely wonderful as well - lavish, absurd, and utterly beautiful - just as ballet should be in my opinion. There was no pretension or striving to be anything deeper than a lovely fairy tale performed by some very talented leads. The only moderate complaint was that the music was recorded (I guess you can't fit an orchestra and a stage in the fountain), but even that dissipated. As Michael pointed out, the emphasis was really on the spectacle of the stage and the dancers and the performance. It was simply delightful.

Sunday consisted of the weekly trip to the market, followed by a relatively brief viewing of the final stage of the Tour de France. Since we don't have a TV, nor a legitimate American contender, my normally close attention to the Tour waned significantly this year and I can't say I really cared about who won. There was so much scandal and drama this year, that the win seems somehow tainted. I still wanted to see it in some form though, and was glad that it passed very close to our appartment. Therefore, we all went down to the Rue de Rivoli, waited for about an hour, and then saw each group of bicyclists pass within about 5 minutes. It was fun to see, but I wish good old Lance had been leading the pack and thus made the experience a bit more memorable. After the Tour, I went to Northern Paris to meet my French friend Sonia and her boyfriend at the Bassin de la Villette where the Paris Plage organization had set up various water/sand based activities along the sides of the Canal. Unfortunately the weather wasn't particularly good, but it was still fun to see and a definite possibility for future sunny days. We had a nice time chatting over coffee and dinner though, and then saw The Simpsons Movie since the outdoor movie we had hoped to see was cancelled due to the weather.

Sooooo, that's pretty much it for now. I'm obviously feeling much better and am looking forward to seeing some visitors from home this week in the form of Jared and my Dartmouth friend, Lauren. I'm also seeing another ballet by the Cuban National Ballet tomorrow at the Grand Palais, to which I've never been, so that ought to be enjoyable, although my standard have been set quite high.