Palais Garnier for Le Ballet!

The other night we went to see "Le Parc," a ballet by Angelin Preljocaj, which is inspired by both "La Princesse de Cleves" and "Les Liasons Dangereuses" (Dangerous Liasons). It was an interesting blend of modern and modern-tinged ballet, and was decorated with beautiful costumes and very austere, grand sets. The ballet itself was not necessarily to my taste, as I do love a classic ballet, but it was interesting to go see, and fun to dress up for! And of course, any opportunity to go to the Palais Garnier I will take with pleasure.

Dressed up for the ballet...

The dancers did a good job, and I especially enjoyed the last third of the ballet, which took place at "night," and had a couple really passionate pas de deuxs. I thought that the choreography and costumes were a little too much, but I still enjoyed the overall ballet, and it made me want to dance!

On Wednesday, I got to have lunch with Allison and Paul, who are visiting Paris right now, and it was so nice to see them! We had a wonderful lunch at Angelina's on Rue du Rivoli, where I had not yet been. The food was delicious and the hot chocolate was to die for.

A bit blurry, but you get the idea!

I love the 1st Arrondisement, so it was a nice walk back to the metro station along the Tuilleries Gardens.

Yesterday I went on a very interesting school trip with my International Relations class to the Cite d'Immigration on the Eastern end of Paris. Our class title is "Islam in France," and it was really cool to see the exhibit set up at the Cite of all the immigrant statistics and art. It was a neat fusion of photography, design, video, and personal stories, that made it very memorable. I would suggest a visit there to anyone visiting Paris; France is composed of so many immigrant families, that it is important to understand all the different cultures, and not just the classically French one.

Today (Friday), I met Morgan at her apartment and decided to run there. It was nice to get the exercise because I have been travelling so much, and haven't had a chance, and also nice to run across the river and into the 16th Arrondisement. I'm so happy to be here for the weekend, and feel like I've gotten a lot more organized in just the afternoon--I was able to write in my journal, clean my room, make a nice lunch...and plan out the rest of my weekend.

I have a lot of writing and research to do this weekend, but hopefully I'll also do something worth writing about. Stay tuned for a blog entry soon!

Bisous,

Ashley