Just another Paris evening

Hey Everyone!
Sorry it's been so long since I updated! It's been so crazy here that I haven't had the time at all. The picture that you see to the left was taken today. I felt very, very parisienne! I bought the dress yesterday (sorry, Dad, but it wasn't very expensive!). For those of you who don't know, Parisiens wear a ton of black. That's not just a stereotype; it's a truth. Today, I knew I would have a long day complete with a trip to the theater at the end of it so I thought I'd dress cute to make myself feel better. My hair was down but there's only so much of that that I can take! So most of my day was normal...wake up, do last-minute homework, go to classes all day. But after my third and final class of the day, I had a history visit and after that I had to go to the theater for my theater class. Here is a full account of both events:
Our history visit was really interesting. We went to the Quartier Dauphine, which is right next to the Boulevard St. Germain. It was beautiful and but most of it was at night. It was a weird visit all around. To start with, there was a huge statue of Danton right outside the metro stop and we thought that he said to meet by the statue. In reality, he said to meet across the street from the statue. So after about 15 minutes after the rendez-vous time, someone spotted him waiting right across the street. It was really funny. He seemed a little annoyed because only about half the class actually showed up, which was too bad because it was a really awesome place to see. I forgot my camera!!! Darn it! So we entered a tiny walking street that used to be an old marketplace and had signs in the medieval style that lets the passersby know what the shop is. So there were a couple photographers there. They asked a couple of the girls in our group to walk through this cute little alleyway so that they could get a picture. They said they were in class and couldn't. So the photographer went over and asked our prof if we could take a very short break so that he could get some pictures. Much to our surprise, Monsieur Rabate agreed! It was really strange we just walked through the alleyway, away from him. Then he told us to turn around and walk toward him. We tried to be normal but it wasn't working well. I think I made a funny face but at least I looked cute (see photo above for confirmation)! Anyway, we saw the oldest cafe in Paris and a lot of old, beautiful buildings. It is simply amazing how much this guy knows! He's pretty awesome. We ended our trip by crossing the Pont Neuf (which ironically means "new bridge" and it is the oldest bridge in Paris) and going and seeing the exterior of the conciergerie, the oldest royal palace in Paris. What was even funnier than the photographer thing was when we were in front of the Courthouse. The Conciergerie is actually now part of the courthouse and I think it also serves as the parliament building but I'm not sure about that. We were just outside the fence of the building and Mr Rabate was talking and the gendarme (federal police officer) that was standing guard moved closer until he was right next to Mr Rabate. It was so funny! Like a 70 year old man and 7 of his female students are a threat!! C'etait tres drole!
I wasn't really looking forward to going to the theater tonight. We read the play and, although it was a contemporary play, it was hard because it is a play of monologues and not a lot of action. To my surprise, I loved it! The stage had a lot of different levels and it was very geometric. It symbolized the different levels of the court system (the play is set during the three minutes leading up to the beginning of a murder trial). The acting was fabulous and it seemed very physically challenging because there were a lot of times when the characters were just still and silent while another character was talking. Sometimes they were in a squatting position for 5 minutes or so! I didn't know such a thing was possible! Talk about incredible! It was hard to follow all of the dialogs because it was in French and they talked fast but it was really enjoyable. The lighting played a huge part and it was very well done! Also it was very nice to finally see a play with some handsome young men in it, especially the guy who played Germain (the twin brother of the guy who was murdered). All of the plays we've seen so far have not had anyone attractive. I was starting to think that French actors just weren't meant to be cute. Thankfully I was wrong!
After the play, it was arranged for us to talk to the author/director of the play and ask her questions. She was incredibly nice, although she seemed very tired. I really enjoyed listening to her! Come to find out, the play is entirely imaginary!!!! What I mean by that is that the dialogs and monologues were all meant as a possible scenario. It was all in the heads of the characters and none of that actually happened. It was very cool! The actors even came out and talked to us a bit. They were also very nice and very friendly. We joked with them a little about our French and us being American and they asked us about how we liked Paris and how long we were staying and why we wanted to study French and where in the States we were from. They were sooooo nice! The author even expressed her surprise and congratulations on being able to read a play and see it and converse about it all in our second language. They applauded us! It was amazing. Callie told her that after 3 months of being here, that was our one bright hope. I really wanted to hug her she was so sweet!
Overall, very wonderful evening. Don't worry tomorrow or Saturday I will do my best to get on here and give a full account of my trip to Norway two weeks ago. It was fantastic but I just haven't gotten the time to write about it. I love you and miss you all!

French Amy

P.S. I changed my settings on here and so now I think non-members of the site can comment. Mom, Dad, this means you! Let me know what you think!