Spring Break is almost upon us, and I’m already wishing I had more time in Paris. In reality, I have less than 6 weeks left in the city itself, and I feel like there’s so much I still haven’t seen.
I know we’re here to study first, but I hate spending my days reading and writing papers in my room while the city moves around me. March was a very busy month and I had little time to explore. My days consisted of waking up, going to class, coming home, taking a nap, eating dinner, doing homework, and going to bed. I still don’t have much free time, but now that midterms are over (at least) and the weather is decidedly spring-like, I’m going to try to experience Paris to the fullest.
That said, I have been able to take advantage of some of Paris’ goings-on. A couple weeks ago, I enjoyed a “concert blitz” wherein I attended four separate shows: les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois, Isabelle Boulay, the ballet “Le Parc,” and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
The first of the four concerts, les Petits Chanteurs, was arguably the best. The “PCCB” is essentially the French equivalent of the Vienna Boys’ Choir — I discovered their music after “Les Choristes” spawned my interest in French children’s choirs. At any rate, I found out that they were performing in a church near my neighborhood (in fact, their school is located two metro stops away), so Madeline and I both decided to attend and were blown away by the quality of the performance.
In addition to a beautiful rendition of “Ave Maria,” and an awesome performance of Handel’s “Hallelujah,” my favourite piece was probably this lullaby by Mozart. I managed to find an older performance of it by the PCCB on youtube, but it’s not as good as the performance we saw:
The performance we saw was flawless. That countermelody is an extremely demanding part, and it was performed with a pitch-perfect, clear, almost superhuman sound. I wish I was that talented at that age.
It was just a really nice experience overall. The music was excellent, and I’m pretty sure we were the only non-French people there. It just felt so…French.
The second concert was Isabelle Boulay — a favourite Canadian singer of mine — at the Olympia. Unfortunately, I forgot that you need to tip ushers in France, so I couldn’t offer anything to the usher when I took my seat. They must make a killing, though.
I was probably one of a handful of people under age 35 in the audience, but I didn’t mind. I’m used to having musical tastes that don’t align with those of my age group. However, the opening act was a young Canadian singer named Stéphanie Lapointe, who was one of the winners of Quebec’s version of American Idol. She sang some pretty nice songs, including a French version of “Bang Bang” by Nancy Sinatra.
Isabelle herself was great to see in person. She seems to have a unique way of adopting a certain character to fit with the theme of the concert, which was her “music box.” It was also really nice to hear her Canadian accent. Made me feel a little more at home. And the music was so much better live than recorded.
Anyway, if you have no idea who I’m talking about, here’s one of her more recent songs:
Oh, North America…
The third performance was a modern ballet, “Le Parc,” at the Opéra Garnier, paid for by USC. Despite its extravagant beauty, the opera is not the most comfortable place to watch a show. We were in the very back row of the top balcony, and the tiny, barely padded wooden seats provided no back support or leg room.
That said, it was an interesting experience. The ballet combined modern and traditional danse, some contemporary composition (mostly atmospheric) and music from Mozart. Ballet isn’t entirely my truc, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
The final concert was in Sainte-Chapelle — which, amazingly enough, my Parisian host parents had never even heard of before I mentioned I was going to a concert there. It was nice to see the amazing stained glass again. The first half of the concert is consisted of a series of “hit” classical pieces, like Ave Maria, Bach’s Air on a G String, Pachelbel’s Canon (unfortunately not very well performed; one of the violins was out of tune, too), etc.
The Four Seasons came next. I was glad to finally see it performed in person, although I was disappointed by the small size of the string ensemble (3 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello). The cello was underplaying the whole time and it really could’ve used more bass. There’s such a remarkable level of energy and power in Vivaldi’s music.
My favourite movement (Summer, Presto):
In addition to my studies of art history and avant guard literature, all this cultural exposure has really revived my strong creative urges. I feel like writing poetry, making music, drawing — Paris is just the city of inspiration. The warm weather we’re having now just makes me feel even more inclined to lounge in a park somewhere and create art, although I haven’t had the chance yet.
Some other things I’ve been up to:
- Saw Watchmen opening day (2 days before the US release date!) Really enjoyed it… the cinematography, music, “alternate universe” setting, everything. It’s such a fascinating mix of the cheesy and the profound, the cliché and the unconventional. I can see why it’s considered the greatest graphic novel of all time, and I really want to read the book now.
- Went up the Tour Montparnasse for a view of the city at night. Overpriced, but great view.
- Had dinner at a fondue restaurant in the Latin Quarter. Absolutely delicious, especially the dessert, which consisted of the best raspberry sorbet and chocolate ice cream I’ve ever tasted.
- Met up with my childhood best friend Brandon, who is studying in Geneva and was in Paris for Spring Break. I gave him and his friends a tour of the Catacombs and the Bois de Vincennes. It was only the second time I’ve seen him in the past 9 years.
- Visit to the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, my new favourite park in Paris. It’s such a hidden gem. I’m definitely going back when the flowers and trees are all in bloom.
- Lots of museum visits. I know the Orsay like the back of my hand now, although I’ve still only scratched the surface of the Louvre. The Picasso Museum was also really interesting, as was our recent visit to the Gustave Moreau museum. I forsee myself writing my next art history paper on one of his paintings
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