Eiffel for Paris: Good Weekend…

“Cultural” opportunities abound in this amazing city.

I joined some friends (Tania, Jane, Robbie, Maureen, Felicity (and husband!)) for a ballet performance at Palais de Congrès on a Friday evening a few weeks back. The first part included shorter pieces ranging from classical to fairly modern ballet, and there was even a tango-inspired piece using “El Tango de Roxanne” from Moulin Rouge (one of my favorite movies!) The second part of the evening was devoted entirely to Ravel’s Bolero. I was thrilled to hear the music again and to see another impressive interpretation of the composition! At one point, there were 30 dancers on the stage moving seamlessly as the music’s repetitive strains filled the auditorium. Again, I was completely entranced by everything I saw. What a great experience!

The next night involved dinner with some of the same friends (Jane, Tania, Joy, Laure, and Kathryn) and then a sleepover at the apartment of our gracious hostess – thank you, Jane! We had a blast visiting before walking down boulevard St. Germain looking for our restaurant (which proved even more entertaining!) After dinner we walked back to the apartment, looking forward to popcorn and a movie (Fried Green Tomatoes). We stayed awake as long as we could, but everyone’s eyes started to close around 2am…

The next day was Palm Sunday and Joy invited me to go to church with her (St. Michael’s). We walked from Jane’s…across the Seine, through Place de la Concorde, and down rue Faubourg-St. Honoré. It was a lovely service, and quite nice to visit a different church. After church, Joy and I made our way to Châtelet…more specifically, to Théâtre de la Ville because she had heard that Cate Blanchett was performing in a play titled Big and Small (playing the main character, Lotte), and thought it would be great to see if we could get tickets. That afternoon's performance had sold out earlier in the week, but we stood on the sidewalk with a little sign: “Cherchons 2 places SVP” (Looking for 2 seats, please), to see if we could attract a potential seller. It worked! A small group of friends had two friends who couldn’t make it, so we offered them cash for the tickets and made our way to our seats (pretty high up, but still with an amazing view)! Cate Blanchett was amazing. The role seemed very demanding and she made it all look somewhat effortless, but by the end it was obvious that she was exhausted. I was so glad it all worked out to see it! What a cool opportunity!!