Last Friday, Paul and I went to a concert by the group Djanam, a Balkan folksong group here in Paris. This is how I reconnected to Michelle! Last month, when I went to Jean-Yves' birthday party, I saw Pierre-Yves and Camille, of course and Camille told me that there would be a concert coming up. Afterwards, she gave me Michelle's email address and because we were both pretty busy, it seemed the easiest way to see each other was at the concert.
We met up with Pierre-Yves in the lobby while we were in line to get our tickets. I had no idea that this kind of music was so popular. The theater was absolutely full - about 300 capacity! And I had no idea how professional and good this amateur group was. They sing beautifully and although I do not understand a word, it was easy to feel the emotion. It was a wonderful concert.
I hope that when Gail and Erica come to Paris, together or on separate trips, I can get you together with Michelle. You have so much in common. (Actually, I remember a trip when Erica came almost 30 years ago and we went over to Michelle's and they ended up singing the afternoon away together!)
It's another of those "it's a small world" things; they have friends in common, not counting me! I know Erica and Gail from high school in Philly and Michelle from my first job at Berlitz in Paris! She's from California, so it's not so obvious that she and my east coast friends would have friends from the Balkan folksinging community in common.
And speaking of Gail -- I met a professor at Université de Paris, Marne-la-Vallée, who would probably be a good contact for her, and vice versa.
I didn't need Facebook to do all this connecting. I've been doing it for years, but I must admit I enjoy Facebook. I like seeing my friends' updates. For instance, I feel I know Eric a little better; at least, I know how he feels about his homework (feels he's got too much) and how he loves flying. I can sort of follow Emma and Laurent; although they do not update frequently, they write even less often.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
De Miro à Warhol
Last Saturday I met Oriane, my friend from back when I was preparing the teaching certificate nearly 20 years ago. She lives in Lyons but comes up to Paris every so often to attend seminars in linguistics at the university. Her speciality is in swearing and use of vulgarity, which of course involves shifts in what is considered vulgarity over time, according to age, origins, and class. But now I'm getting off subject.
We had arranged to meet at the Musée de Quai Branly, but Oriane was delayed an hour and after having spent that hour on a bench outside, I no longer wanted to wind my way through the museum. Besides, we wanted to talk. So, we decided to walk to the Musée du Luxembourg, part of the French Senate building in the Luxembourg gardens. Let's say it was about 2 km. from one museum to the other. And we stopped for lunch. So we were still pretty fresh when we got there. There was no line to get in! And the exhibit is great. It's the Berardo collection of 20th century art. It takes you from Surrealisme and its origins (Miro, Magritte, Dali, and more) through Abstraction (Mondrian, Souza-Cardoso, Pollock, Reinhardt, Stella and more), on to Pop Art and beyond (Wesselmann, Indiana, Warhol, Lichtenstein, and so on). There are only 75 pieces and it's a varied collection, so you don't get bored.
We walked through the gardens and had a cup of hot chocolate. Then, down Boul. St. Michel, across Ile de la Cité, to the Beaubourg Museum, where we did not stop (oof!), through the Marais, all the way to Anne's apartment (just to show Oriane where it is) and then to the Gare de Lyons. All in all, with backtracking here and there, I guess we covered about 7 km., not including the museum. Our legs had had it and we managed to talk ourselves out, but it was a wonderful day.
For any of you coming through Paris, there are some great exhibits on:
Also, earlier in the week we attended the Phd. dissertation of our nextdoor neighbor, Rob, on the Ordinance of June 18, 1349, regulating laborer's wages. A result of the plague? The first national regulation of the sort? Wow, I never realized what "defending" a thesis was all about. It's horrendous. But he came through with flying colors.
I left the dissertation ceremony early in order to accompany Anne to her signing for the appartment. It is now hers and she's moving in this weekend!
We had arranged to meet at the Musée de Quai Branly, but Oriane was delayed an hour and after having spent that hour on a bench outside, I no longer wanted to wind my way through the museum. Besides, we wanted to talk. So, we decided to walk to the Musée du Luxembourg, part of the French Senate building in the Luxembourg gardens. Let's say it was about 2 km. from one museum to the other. And we stopped for lunch. So we were still pretty fresh when we got there. There was no line to get in! And the exhibit is great. It's the Berardo collection of 20th century art. It takes you from Surrealisme and its origins (Miro, Magritte, Dali, and more) through Abstraction (Mondrian, Souza-Cardoso, Pollock, Reinhardt, Stella and more), on to Pop Art and beyond (Wesselmann, Indiana, Warhol, Lichtenstein, and so on). There are only 75 pieces and it's a varied collection, so you don't get bored.
We walked through the gardens and had a cup of hot chocolate. Then, down Boul. St. Michel, across Ile de la Cité, to the Beaubourg Museum, where we did not stop (oof!), through the Marais, all the way to Anne's apartment (just to show Oriane where it is) and then to the Gare de Lyons. All in all, with backtracking here and there, I guess we covered about 7 km., not including the museum. Our legs had had it and we managed to talk ourselves out, but it was a wonderful day.
For any of you coming through Paris, there are some great exhibits on:
- De Miro à Warhol until Feb. 22
- Picasso et les maîtres until Feb. 2
- Jackson Pollock et le chamanisme until Feb. 15
Also, earlier in the week we attended the Phd. dissertation of our nextdoor neighbor, Rob, on the Ordinance of June 18, 1349, regulating laborer's wages. A result of the plague? The first national regulation of the sort? Wow, I never realized what "defending" a thesis was all about. It's horrendous. But he came through with flying colors.
I left the dissertation ceremony early in order to accompany Anne to her signing for the appartment. It is now hers and she's moving in this weekend!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Concert Michel Jonasz
in English after the line --------
Hier, nous sommes allés avec les Pachter voir le trio Michel Jonasz en concert à Neuilly. Je ne pense pas qu'il faille dire qu'il est dans la version FR. Il est toujours le même chanteur, toujour la même voix de blues, un vrai délice. Et énormément d'humour. Les deux autres musiciens du trio, Guillaume Poncelet aux claviers et à la trompette et Stéphane Edouard aux percussions, et encore le régisseur du son qui intervient quand il faut un guitare, font tout un orchestre. Nous étions assis en ligne directe avec la batterie, alors j'étais complètement émerveillée et fascinée par la complexité de la performance.
C'était un concert en matinée (à 15h), ce qui n'est pas courant pour des concerts de jazz mais qui nous convenait, en fait. C'était un concert au bénéfice de OSE. OSE, fondé il y a plus de cent ans pour aider les enfants juifs, d'abord victimes des pogroms, ensuite pauvres immigrés, ensuite survivants, orphelins de guerre, change avec les temps. (Un peu d'histoire, en anglais.) Elle s'occupe toujours d'enfants et familles en difficulté, mais depuis quelques années, se tourne aussi vers le problème des personnes atteintes de la maladie d'Alzheimer. Le deuxième centre de séjour à la journée vient d'ouvrir à Paris et ils projètent d'en ouvrir une par an pendant les cinq prochaines années, au moins. Leur centres sont devenu modèles pour le genre.
Donc voilà, notre sortie du weekend. Aujourd'hui, Anne prépare son déménagement et ce soir nous allons à Paris, diner avec Louis, Gwen, et les parents de Gwen.
-------------------
Yesterday, Paul and I went to see the Michel Jonasz Trio with Michel and Rosette Pachter. I don't think the Americans and English reading this know who he is. He's a French jazz and blues musician. Excellent. The concert was great. You can listen to a bit on his site. We were sitting in front of the percussionist and I was totally fascinated by him and his performance. But really, the whole concert was wonderful.
It was a matinée fund-raising performance for OSE, an organization founded to help Jewish children, victims of pogroms over a hundred years ago. (In the US, it's the Children's Aid Society, I think. There's a little history of it.) During and after WWII, of course, they concentrated on saving Jewish children, hiding them during the war and taking care of orphaned children who had survived the concentration camps. Now, their mission is still to take care of families and children in difficulty, but they have also undertaken the complicated mission of providing day-care centers for people with Alzheimer's disease. This gives the families a bit of respite. They just opened up the second center and are planning at least one per year for the next five years, at least. Their centers have become models for this type of care.
So, that was our weekend. This evening, we are going to have dinner with Louis, Gwen, and Gwen's parents. Anne has the day off today (tomorrow is a holiday) and she's busy packing up boxes, preparing her move.
Hier, nous sommes allés avec les Pachter voir le trio Michel Jonasz en concert à Neuilly. Je ne pense pas qu'il faille dire qu'il est dans la version FR. Il est toujours le même chanteur, toujour la même voix de blues, un vrai délice. Et énormément d'humour. Les deux autres musiciens du trio, Guillaume Poncelet aux claviers et à la trompette et Stéphane Edouard aux percussions, et encore le régisseur du son qui intervient quand il faut un guitare, font tout un orchestre. Nous étions assis en ligne directe avec la batterie, alors j'étais complètement émerveillée et fascinée par la complexité de la performance.
C'était un concert en matinée (à 15h), ce qui n'est pas courant pour des concerts de jazz mais qui nous convenait, en fait. C'était un concert au bénéfice de OSE. OSE, fondé il y a plus de cent ans pour aider les enfants juifs, d'abord victimes des pogroms, ensuite pauvres immigrés, ensuite survivants, orphelins de guerre, change avec les temps. (Un peu d'histoire, en anglais.) Elle s'occupe toujours d'enfants et familles en difficulté, mais depuis quelques années, se tourne aussi vers le problème des personnes atteintes de la maladie d'Alzheimer. Le deuxième centre de séjour à la journée vient d'ouvrir à Paris et ils projètent d'en ouvrir une par an pendant les cinq prochaines années, au moins. Leur centres sont devenu modèles pour le genre.
Donc voilà, notre sortie du weekend. Aujourd'hui, Anne prépare son déménagement et ce soir nous allons à Paris, diner avec Louis, Gwen, et les parents de Gwen.
-------------------
Yesterday, Paul and I went to see the Michel Jonasz Trio with Michel and Rosette Pachter. I don't think the Americans and English reading this know who he is. He's a French jazz and blues musician. Excellent. The concert was great. You can listen to a bit on his site. We were sitting in front of the percussionist and I was totally fascinated by him and his performance. But really, the whole concert was wonderful.
It was a matinée fund-raising performance for OSE, an organization founded to help Jewish children, victims of pogroms over a hundred years ago. (In the US, it's the Children's Aid Society, I think. There's a little history of it.) During and after WWII, of course, they concentrated on saving Jewish children, hiding them during the war and taking care of orphaned children who had survived the concentration camps. Now, their mission is still to take care of families and children in difficulty, but they have also undertaken the complicated mission of providing day-care centers for people with Alzheimer's disease. This gives the families a bit of respite. They just opened up the second center and are planning at least one per year for the next five years, at least. Their centers have become models for this type of care.
So, that was our weekend. This evening, we are going to have dinner with Louis, Gwen, and Gwen's parents. Anne has the day off today (tomorrow is a holiday) and she's busy packing up boxes, preparing her move.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Catching up
en français après le trait ----------
I keep putting writing my blog off -- just like I used to put off writing letters, so the objective of having this blog reflect my letter writing of the past is acheived. I guess I had imagined I'd do a better job of it.
Paul and I went to the Quai Branly museum, which is also known as the Musée des Arts Primaires, or the Musée des civilisations de l'océanie, l'asie, l'afrique et des amériques. It's what used to be called primative art, except that it finally dawned on the specialists that it was not so primative.
This is the newest museum, built between the Eiffel Tower and the Pont d'Alma. It has some greenery growing on the facade and there's a nice garden to walk through. It doesn't take up all of the site it was built on, so the buildings on the street behind it still benefit from the light and the view. I remember the buildings that used to be there that blocked out everything. It's very near the American library, so I guess I'll be going back some time soon.
From the outside, it's very modern and you'd expect it to be well organized and user-friendly inside. You'd expect it, but we were somewhat disappointed. It starts out well enough with the ticket booths outside, well away from the entrance to the museum. The security gate at the entrance is no different from what you find at other museums. Then, you find yourself in a vast empty lobby. The permanent exhibit is up a ramp. It's a long ramp and it's too steep for wheelchairs. That doesn't make it easy for people having any trouble walking. There's no place to stop; there's nothing to see that might give you an excuse to be slow. We didn't have any trouble, but we weren't the oldest people visiting on this weekday. I didn't see signs leading to an elevator in the lobby.
At the top of the ramp you are in the center of the museum. It's not too clear what you are expected to do first. We went straight into the "Océanie" section. When I was in school, we learned that Australia was a continent and I don't think we ever classified all those Pacific islands. In France, Océanie includes Australia, New Zealand, New Calidonia, Polynesia, and the other South Pacific islands. The exhibit is not based on geography, but on culture, so you're not looking at everything from this island, then that island, but rather everything concerning this kind of rite or occupation, then another. It's interesting. But I thought of Nana when we would go to a restaurant and she would complain about not being able to see the menu or the food -- we had trouble reading the exhibit notes and even seeing the exhibits. Everyone seemed to be straining to see in the dark. We had the audioguides, but it was a challenge to find the numbers corresponding to the exhibit being explained. There's no continuity, so sometimes the number was on the floor, sometimes at eye level, sometimes on the right, other times on the left. At one time I had the feeling I was looking for the numbers rather than looking at the exhibit.
As I said, the exhibit is interesting and the workmanship is beautiful. In fact we spent such a long time in Océanie that we went to have lunch instead of starting with Asia. After lunch (Do not eat at the overpriced café on the premises. The food was good, but very expensive and the service was very slow. There are cafés on the avenues on either side of the museum and your ticket is good for the day.) So, after lunch, we went to see the temporary exhibits: "The spirit of “Mingei” in Japan: folk art design" and "Upside Down - The Arctic Regions". The first one is really the arts and crafts movement in Japan - some beautiful ceramics, fabrics, furniture and accessories. THe second is made up of Inuit bone, ivory, and (rare) wood carvings. The bone and ivory carvings are tiny and amazingly detailed and beautiful.
After that, we went back up the ramp and spent a few minutes in the Africa section before deciding that there was too much to see and we should save it for the next time. It's a rich, rich collection.
Other news? Anne is signing the purchase of her apartment next week, so she'll be moving, soon. Emma and Laurent are on their way from Darwin to Alice Springs. Claire and Geoff have set the NEW date for their wedding: August 8, 2009. Louis and Gwen are busy working on their apartment, stripping the old electric installation so Manu can set up the new. Oh, we got ourselves a "new" car -- it's a used Prius, but it's still our new car. We got rid of the van (sorry all our guests who loved it) and the Twingo and now just have one car.
---------------------------
Il est hors de question que je me répète mot pour mot.
Nous sommes allés au musée du Quai Branly il y a quelques jours. C'est un musée qui mérite plusieurs visites. Il est trop fatiguant à tenter la visite en une fois. On marche beaucoup -- d'abord une rampe interminable pour accéder à l'exposition. Ensuite, les cheminements sont à l'étroit et la navigation n'est pas évident. Il fait sombre et on peine à voir les objets et les encarts et ne parlons pas des numéros qui correspondent aux sujets sur l'audioguide -- difficile à trouver d'un objet à un autre.
Mise à part cette critique du musée, le contenu est fascinant et mérite d'être vu - donc en plusieurs fois.
On a aussi pris le temps de regarder les expositions temporaire : "Upside Down - Les Arctiques" et "L’esprit Mingei au Japon : de l’artisanat populaire au design". Très bien, les deux. Et très différents. L'esprit Mingei est, pour résumer, les arts déco -- des céramiques, les meubles, les tissus, etc. Et les Artiques se compose de bois (rare), os et ivoire sculptés finement.
Nous n'avons vu que la partie de l'Océanie dans la collection permanente; nous reviendrons pour voir le reste.
Pour les autres nouvelles : Anne signe son appartement la semaine prochaine. Emma et Laurent cheminent de Darwin à Alice Springs. Claire et Geoff ont fixé une NOUVELLE date pour le mariage: 8 août 2009. Louis et Gwen bricolent chez eux. Et nous avons une "nouvelle" voiture -- une Prius d'accasion, mais c'est notre nouvelle voiture qui remplace la Prévia et la Twingo.
I keep putting writing my blog off -- just like I used to put off writing letters, so the objective of having this blog reflect my letter writing of the past is acheived. I guess I had imagined I'd do a better job of it.
Paul and I went to the Quai Branly museum, which is also known as the Musée des Arts Primaires, or the Musée des civilisations de l'océanie, l'asie, l'afrique et des amériques. It's what used to be called primative art, except that it finally dawned on the specialists that it was not so primative.
This is the newest museum, built between the Eiffel Tower and the Pont d'Alma. It has some greenery growing on the facade and there's a nice garden to walk through. It doesn't take up all of the site it was built on, so the buildings on the street behind it still benefit from the light and the view. I remember the buildings that used to be there that blocked out everything. It's very near the American library, so I guess I'll be going back some time soon.
From the outside, it's very modern and you'd expect it to be well organized and user-friendly inside. You'd expect it, but we were somewhat disappointed. It starts out well enough with the ticket booths outside, well away from the entrance to the museum. The security gate at the entrance is no different from what you find at other museums. Then, you find yourself in a vast empty lobby. The permanent exhibit is up a ramp. It's a long ramp and it's too steep for wheelchairs. That doesn't make it easy for people having any trouble walking. There's no place to stop; there's nothing to see that might give you an excuse to be slow. We didn't have any trouble, but we weren't the oldest people visiting on this weekday. I didn't see signs leading to an elevator in the lobby.
At the top of the ramp you are in the center of the museum. It's not too clear what you are expected to do first. We went straight into the "Océanie" section. When I was in school, we learned that Australia was a continent and I don't think we ever classified all those Pacific islands. In France, Océanie includes Australia, New Zealand, New Calidonia, Polynesia, and the other South Pacific islands. The exhibit is not based on geography, but on culture, so you're not looking at everything from this island, then that island, but rather everything concerning this kind of rite or occupation, then another. It's interesting. But I thought of Nana when we would go to a restaurant and she would complain about not being able to see the menu or the food -- we had trouble reading the exhibit notes and even seeing the exhibits. Everyone seemed to be straining to see in the dark. We had the audioguides, but it was a challenge to find the numbers corresponding to the exhibit being explained. There's no continuity, so sometimes the number was on the floor, sometimes at eye level, sometimes on the right, other times on the left. At one time I had the feeling I was looking for the numbers rather than looking at the exhibit.
As I said, the exhibit is interesting and the workmanship is beautiful. In fact we spent such a long time in Océanie that we went to have lunch instead of starting with Asia. After lunch (Do not eat at the overpriced café on the premises. The food was good, but very expensive and the service was very slow. There are cafés on the avenues on either side of the museum and your ticket is good for the day.) So, after lunch, we went to see the temporary exhibits: "The spirit of “Mingei” in Japan: folk art design" and "Upside Down - The Arctic Regions". The first one is really the arts and crafts movement in Japan - some beautiful ceramics, fabrics, furniture and accessories. THe second is made up of Inuit bone, ivory, and (rare) wood carvings. The bone and ivory carvings are tiny and amazingly detailed and beautiful.
After that, we went back up the ramp and spent a few minutes in the Africa section before deciding that there was too much to see and we should save it for the next time. It's a rich, rich collection.
Other news? Anne is signing the purchase of her apartment next week, so she'll be moving, soon. Emma and Laurent are on their way from Darwin to Alice Springs. Claire and Geoff have set the NEW date for their wedding: August 8, 2009. Louis and Gwen are busy working on their apartment, stripping the old electric installation so Manu can set up the new. Oh, we got ourselves a "new" car -- it's a used Prius, but it's still our new car. We got rid of the van (sorry all our guests who loved it) and the Twingo and now just have one car.
---------------------------
Il est hors de question que je me répète mot pour mot.
Nous sommes allés au musée du Quai Branly il y a quelques jours. C'est un musée qui mérite plusieurs visites. Il est trop fatiguant à tenter la visite en une fois. On marche beaucoup -- d'abord une rampe interminable pour accéder à l'exposition. Ensuite, les cheminements sont à l'étroit et la navigation n'est pas évident. Il fait sombre et on peine à voir les objets et les encarts et ne parlons pas des numéros qui correspondent aux sujets sur l'audioguide -- difficile à trouver d'un objet à un autre.
Mise à part cette critique du musée, le contenu est fascinant et mérite d'être vu - donc en plusieurs fois.
On a aussi pris le temps de regarder les expositions temporaire : "Upside Down - Les Arctiques" et "L’esprit Mingei au Japon : de l’artisanat populaire au design". Très bien, les deux. Et très différents. L'esprit Mingei est, pour résumer, les arts déco -- des céramiques, les meubles, les tissus, etc. Et les Artiques se compose de bois (rare), os et ivoire sculptés finement.
Nous n'avons vu que la partie de l'Océanie dans la collection permanente; nous reviendrons pour voir le reste.
Pour les autres nouvelles : Anne signe son appartement la semaine prochaine. Emma et Laurent cheminent de Darwin à Alice Springs. Claire et Geoff ont fixé une NOUVELLE date pour le mariage: 8 août 2009. Louis et Gwen bricolent chez eux. Et nous avons une "nouvelle" voiture -- une Prius d'accasion, mais c'est notre nouvelle voiture qui remplace la Prévia et la Twingo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)