Phew! We are in Bordeaux now, with my papa and Amelia. Just a few more pics of our place though, because it really is crazy:
The plethora of cat books just cracks me up:
Our little room. I like our window, and what's really funny is the lady that helps school kids cross is outside our door every morning, so we have at least one friend :)
Our sweet 70s wallpaper.
For the back story: the lady who owns this home will be 101 years old next month. She lived here as a girl, her parents built it in 1924 and then when they died she took it and lived there with her own family--she finally moved out to live with her daughter last September. I imagine these stairs were starting to be too much...
Our room with the flower power wallpaper was that daughter's room in the 70s. And this daughter is married to the president of the France chapter of BYU Alumni (who incidentally never went to BYU); they've been so nice with us, taking care of us and setting it up for us.
Anyway. Back to the tour. Here's the Narnia wardrobe in our roommates' room.
They're super nice too, they're one of the BYU couples that had signed up for the internship and miraculously managed to find something else the next day. The funny thing is we've really barely seen them, what with staying at my uncle's, going to Bordeaux, and all that. I'm sure we'll do more stuff with them once Andrew starts his internship for good. Which brings me to that: Andrew showed up for orientation on Monday and got the rundown, met everybody and his boss, and then before noon they told him "Ok, well we'll see you next Monday then!" So he just came on down to Bordeaux with me this week. It was definitely a nice surprise.
It also turns out my dad was doing a concert in Paris last night, so he got us two tickets to go see him. It was a concert representation of an opera, so the opera minus the costumes and staging and all.
 |
| Theatre des Champ-Elysees |
I thought at first it might be pretty lame compared to the real deal but it was seriously awesome--the soloists still played a part and told a story, and the music was fantastic of course. We met my dad for dinner first and had something good at a Lebanese restaurant nearby, and then walked over to see him sing. Incidentally, apparently you have to tip the ushers in Paris. It was pretty awkward when I realized she was asking me for money for having showed us the 5 yards to our seats... The opera was
Il Trovatore. It was sad (no surprises there!) and beautifully performed (duh, we're in freaking Paris. Side note: Andrew was flipping through the program and said: "wow, there's a lot of really awesome concerts and famous artists this summer" and we just looked at each other like what did we expect--we're in the cultural center of the world!). The two female leads in particular were fantastic. Leonora was played by a superb soprano -- she had such beautiful clarity and the way she went from filling the hall with her voice to the softest pianissimo was gorgeous. I may or may not have teared up a few times... And then the gypsy mother was fantastic, very imposing and terrifying at times... quite the diva too. In the end I didn't feel like decor or costumes were even necessary--they told the story plenty enough as it was. Ah, I love opera! I missed it so much!
And by the way, check out the five-star hotel next to the theater…
We just sat there eating chocolate and watching rich diplomats come and go in their fancy cars.
And the
cerise sur le gateau was the Eiffel Tower when we came out: it was sparkling!
As an aside, my cat is a snooty brat. But I should have expected that.
Also, I found the suit of my dreams. It’s only 600 Euros!
Yikes, that’s more than what I paid for my plane ticket! But seriously, can you imagine me in that on my own show… oh boy. I’ve thought of making it, but we’ll have to see if I can find A) somewhat comparable fabric and B) a good enough pattern: it is perfectly tailored.
And that's all for tonight--we're off to have dinner with my aunts!
