Opera phantoms, forbidden grass, and a pesky time warp...

Monday, May 17, 2010

Day 19

Monday I went to class (a little late...man its hard to get up on time!) and afterwards everyone wanted to go to see a Robin Hood matinee. However, I didn't feel like spending money and an afternoon in Paris on a movie so I opted out and went instead with my roommate Marissa and we completed two walks! We first did the Grand Boulevards walk which took us around rue Haussman and the Galleries Lafayette (a big department store complex that has an amazing dome with literally galleries of stores) as well as to the Opera Garnier. The Opera Garnier is the famous Phantom of the Opera opera house, and there is actually a real lake underneath! I didn't get to see it though, but I hear its much smaller than the one in the movie, no surprise there. But we did go inside for the self-guided tour. The security guy who checked our bags was funny. He called us over to check our purses and he asked where we were from and I told him the U.S. and he got all excited when I told was like, "I'm americain, but I speak French!" And he kept saying, "Oh, bon! Excellent! Vous etes tres jolie! etc etc" He wasn't really saying anything coherent or complete sentences but he was very enthousiastic. It was weird and funny at the same time. Marissa and I had a good laugh about it. French.

Galleries Lafayettes
...Yes, this is a large shopping center...

Anyways, we went through the opera house and it was beautiful. Commissioned by Napoleon III, Garnier designed the building for opera but today it is mostly used for ballet. Unfortunately the auditorium itself was closed when we were there so I didn't see where the actual performances are held, but the whole building is magnificent so it wasn't a total loss. I got some great pictures and had fun daydreaming about living in a place like that--I can see why the phantom hung around, its not a bad setup at all!

In front of the main staircase of the Opera Garnier

After playing in the Opera house (and asking a couple in French to take a roommate picture of us) we finished up the walk by going to the Place Vendome (a square with lined with luxury boutiques, including Dior, Cartier and Chanel) where we saw the Ministry of Justice and a 140 foot column that was made in 1806 to celebrate Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz. It was made from over 1,200 melted down Austrian cannons. Originally there was a statue of Louis XIV in the square, but it was melted down after the Revolution. Another interesting fact about Place Vendome is that many famous people lived here, including Chopin, Puccini, Danton, and John Law. And apparently the Ritz Hotel is supposed to be there somewhere but we couldn't find it--which is ironic because you would think it'd be easy to find, I mean, it is the Ritz! This is the same Ritz that Princess Diana left from minutes before her fatal car crash. Nice bit of morbidity for you...

From the Place Vendome we continued on to make a quick visit to the Eglise Saint-Roch, whose foundation stone was laid in 1653 by Louis XIV. It was a nice church, very pretty. We then finished our walk by looking at a nice statue of Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) that is in a square by the Jardin des Tuileries. After finishing the walk we took the metro to the Tour Montparnasse to begin our second walk, "A Walk in the Park: Montparnasse and the Jardin du Luxembourg." We met up with Marissa's French friend Claire (they had done a couple student exchanges together) and Claire helped show us around the area while we followed the walk. It was cool to have her explain some additional history and information about the district and some of its buildings. She was really nice, and spoke excellent English.

l'Eglise de Saint Roche

On the walk we saw the statue commemorating Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army who was falsely convicted of treason in 1894. He was stripped of his rank and exiled, but eventually was pardoned by the president of France and reinstated. However, the whole thing, now called the Dreyfus Affair, is still a touchy subject for the French people (they're just a little embarrassed/ashamed).

Statue of Dreyfus

Anyways, we then went to the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens where we sat by the Luxembourg Palace and talked for about an hour. It was quite lovely because it was finally a nice a day out and we could actually enjoy the weather. Claire pointed out the security by the palace and commented that their uniform was interesting because they wear the squared hat, which is apparently unusual because it is a more old-fashioned style. The whole thing was very funny to her, which made it funny to me.

I would also like to point out that at the Jardins du Luxembourg they are allied with BYU because, just like BYU they have pelouse interdit or, "forbidden grass," the French version of "Please don't walk on me, I'm trying really hard to grow." Yes, the French too have designated grass areas: pelouse interdit and pelouse autorite (authorized). See? The French and the Mormons are not all that different!

BYU's version of lawn prohibition...

"Forbidden lawn: Please Keep Off the Grass"




"Pelouse Autorisee: Sitting on the Grass Permitted"

After finishing the Luxembourg walk we headed home since it was then about six o'clock. I attempted to be productive but, there is this weird phenomenon in France that they don't warn you about...not only is there a time change, but there is a time warp. I swear. I get home and go to my room. The second I go in, I enter the time warp, and when I come out, the sun is gone and it is 11pm and all I've done is downloaded pictures and started my blog (but not finished it). Its crazy, I know, but I'm not making it up. And that is why I am behind on my blog...Beware of the time warp!