Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Vivaldi's Four Seasons in Sainte Chapelle

Tonight we went to a concert in Sainte Chapelle.

Check out the interior of this place where we heard a beautiful rendition of Vivaldi's Four Seasons!
The second video of the music we heard shows some renovation that was being done at the time, but is completed now. Enjoy!





Monday, October 20, 2008

Getting Settled


Paris Impressions – 2008 – 2009 #1

October is a nice time to be in Paris. Not too hot and not too cold with light jacket weather for the most part so far. No frost yet. Not even close. There have been a number of sunny, perfect 10 days and a few overcast days with an occasional drizzle, but mostly it has been partially cloudy. The geraniums in our window boxes are still in full bloom and most of the leaves on the ubiquitous plane trees are still managing to hang on to their branches. Just right for exploring a city designed for walkers.


We have been living in an unusual state, for us, for the past year. Between 10 months living in a house in a constant state being ready to be shown and temporarily living with Rick and Sally, our very gracious hosts for 2 months, there has been a feeling of being unsettled. Lots of meals out or very simple meals in. Walking into our Villa Monceau apartment we felt immediately at home. Because of that, the dollar to euro ratio, and just what you do when you are somewhere for an extended period of time, we have been eating in most of the time. We will eventually “do it all” but stretch it out over a longer period of time.

We haven’t exactly been confining ourselves to our apartment, though. Some impressions/things/whatever:

• The United el cheapo sardine can treatment getting here. Our worst flying experience yet. And cutting my finger on a tiny knife I carry on my key chain (hush) while removing an excess prong on the headset
provided – the stewardess ran out of the correct, one pronged version by the time she got to me.

• La Nuit Blanche, a one-night dusk until dawn series of artsy exhibitions (performances, art installations, etc.) at well over a hundred locations scattered throughout the city. Like a Cirque du Soleil ballet style performance by a man/woman (?) completely dressed in black moving slowly and smoothly up and down a long, narrow strip of white cloth dangling from the very high and ornate ceiling of the Cathedral St Merri. Or viewing brightly lit, life-sized sculptures of mannequins made of large salt crystals while my shoes were covered with cloth booties as I walked over the floor covered with several inches of salt. Or being jammed into Notre Dame Cathedral, not being able to see the stage because of
intervening columns and only barely being able to hear
the medieval music being performed there.



• Sitting on a park bench watching a budding tightrope artist honing his skills on a stretchy rope tied
between two plane trees in Parc Monceau – until a park official politely made him pack up his equipment and move on.


• A few minutes later watching a completely baldheaded, very muscular man in his late twenties do warm-up exercises, then segue into shadowboxing under the tutelage of his similarly aged coach. Very graceful and fluid motions.

• Still lots and lots of black worn by Parisians of all ages and by both sexes, occasionally accessorized with splotches of bright color. Also the prevalence of high heels (la mode du jour) in non-tourist areas.

• The smell and taste of shrimp covered with grated ginger in a slightly sweet sauce having a hint of lemongrass and cilantro in a well appointed Vietnamese restaurant.

• Lunch at our apartment with Linda Quinet, a friend from previous visits to Paris. Nice to reconnect.

• The exhibition at the Maison EuropĂ©enne de la Photographie, a frequent stop on our visits to Paris because the exhibits change frequently and are always interesting. Photography in a very broad sense here. Like a pair of simple women’s shoes made of soft leather with the soles cut out so you can see the bottoms on the wearer’s feet and the high heels bent at an odd angle so the wearer could not stand on them. A statement of some sort.




• And speaking of art, the many watercolors Wendy has been

turning out, especially one of a little girl and a woman strolling in Parc Monceau and the one of the first croissant we bought for breakfast.


• Hearing a voice behind us as we were walking just outside the Tuileries saying in Franglais, “Is this yours? I think you dropped it.” We turned and saw an attractive young woman holding out a large, plain gold ring toward us. We said it wasn’t ours and told her she should keep it. She talked with us a while, said she was from Croatia, and that is was her lucky day. As she started to move away from us she noticed some inscription on the inside of the band, then said she couldn’t keep it because she was Moslem, or something to that effect. We didn’t want it either (besides it was too light to be gold), but she kept insisting. When she finally got around to suggesting we needed to give her money for lunch or something like that for “good luck”, it finally dawned on us what was going on. And we walked away without the ring.

• Listening to the clear notes of a flute and a cello echo in the small Armenian Church in the 3rd arrondissement. Two talented musicians giving a very worthwhile performance.

Dan and Wendy
10/19/08