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New words I've learned
since arriving
se rappeler
monter
ligne
presque
neuf
mener
rarement
blesser
bleu
boire
sur la puce
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April 13, 2002, 0745 hrs
It's "le week-end". We wish each other "bonne week-end" here. And "bonne soirée" and "bonne journée". The distinction between "bonsoir" and "bon soirée" appears to be between a greeting and a parting. If you aren't going to see someone else again that day, you would say "bonne soirée" or "bonne journée". "Bonne nuit" appears to be reserved for pretty late hours (like after 2300 or so). And, of course, "bonjour" can mean "good morning" or "good afternoon" or "good day"..One always concludes with an "au revoir" or a "a bientôt" (if one is feeling particularly jaunty). Had an odd, lengthy sci-fi dream last night - no doubt occasioned by noticing that my butter had a "biologique" label on it - notifying me that it was free of gene-modified products. I think by law (certainly by custom) the French have to label products as having gene-modified components if they do. While I think they may be slow to adopt some modern ideas (the Internet, functional showers) I've got to say I laud their caution in this matter. I cannot see any conceivable justification from the consumer point of view for having to eat "modded" food. We just don't know enough yet. I want to reserve my opinion for forty or fifty years (until I'm dead!). I'm up at a decent hour this morning - courtesy of my alarm - still set for the week's business. Anyway, on my schedule is laundry (I just realized my new "studio" has no washer and I am condemned to doing laundry at a commercial laverie), finding the Virgin and PSG stores in town, and meeting my friend Patrizia for the new Almodovar film. In Spanish (v.o.) with French sub-titles - it should be a challenge. Thank God for brief sub-titles. I might almost be able to follow the film - at least that's the hope. I should explain for those of you who do not know that Paris has over 300 cinemas. In a city of only 2.1 million. It has more cinemas than the entire NYC metro area. So tons. Most films are seen in the v.o. (versione originale) though some of the bigger ones will be in v.f. (versione française). Star Wars comes out here in a few weeks and it will be in v.o. with French sous-titres (which absolutely suck by the way). Even when the French figure out that my French is not "ma langue maternale" (which takes about 5 seconds) and they try English, I do my best to continue in French. It's too easy to speak English and I figure my French will never get better otherwise. Of course, most would never admit they speak English, and I never ask. If they try English, it's because they are confident of their abilities and want to speak it. Last night, the Corsican store owner continued in French after I continued in French, which I thought was very nice of him. I explained to my French teacher (in French) yesterday that May Day (1 May) is not celebrated in the United States except by Communists, Socialists (and Reedies) and that it is not a "fête nationale" there. Further, that the first occasion of it was the Russian Revolution of 1917. It didn't exist before that (at least I'm fairly sure it didn't). It's funny though, so many of the fêtes of the western world are just appropriations of pagan celebrations (mid-winter's day, first day of spring, longest day of the year, etc.). Even Christmas apparently. I read somewhere that Christ's birth should actually fall sometime in August or September if you look at the historical record. But it worked better for the Christian church to appropriate the mid-winter holiday. I thought I might also check the schedule of Notre Dame today. I would like to see a mass there - just to experience it. 2436 Late again. A very long day. I thought I was going to meet with my new friend Patrizia in the city at about 12 so I went down to the Champs-Elysees about 1200 and gave her a ring. She didn't expect to meet up until about 1900 so I had a few hours to kill. I walked the length of the Champs-Elysee and took a picture of some palace gates, next to the Thai Airways building: )
I found that the Champs-Elysees climbed the whole way to the Arc de Triomphe (a picture of which I will provide in a few days when the weather turns nice again). I suspect that Haussman designed it that way, so that one has a good view down the entire boulevard - most likely another photo worth taking. I thought it was quite interesting that the Citroen dealership on the C-E had a restaurant in it (Hippo - looked decent, at least the prices and choices did). Prices were quite expensive in that neighborhood (as one might expect, it being very desirable) so I made by way back to the general Paris St.Germain area and resolved to find a sandwhich for lunch (which I did, followed a couple of hours later by the inevitable crepe). Near Notre Dame (picture below) I found a street that was devoted to librarie that sold bande desinées - basically bound, color comic books. In the style of the graphic novels that have taken the American market by storm. I think they have actually existed (bound) in Europe much longer, but the comic has really been raised to an art form in the US. I bought one in Virgin (back on the Champs-Elysees) in French of course. I think it'll help with my French since it's basically a graphic novel with pictures to help my comprehension - and the French is quite current as you might imagine. )
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Wondered around the downtown quite a bit, hit my usual Internet cafe and checked email and then headed down to the area of the Bastille and Opera House to meet Patrizia. )
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The statue on the left is one put up to commemorate those who died in the three days it took to take the Bastille (France's original maximum security prison). In the metro for the Bastille they have pictures on the walls of the destruction of the fortress (using elephants!). The current Place de Bastille stands pretty much over the bounds of the old fortress. The statue is very well kept, with the names engraved in gold for each day. How they figured out who was who when hardly anyone left alive was literate I don't know.. The middle picture is of the new Bastille Opera House, which looks quite modern (and I gather was the subject of some controversy when it was built). I reserve judgement until I have watched an opera inside (which I plan to do in the next month or two if I can get tickets). The have Tosca playing this year, which I must see.. Finally, the picture on the right is one I took of Patrizia and myself outside the movie cinema (camera held at arm's length). I'm amazed it worked. You can just see the statue in the centre of La Place de Bastille in the background. I look very tired - probably my constant state right now until my sleep gets better. Patrizia normally works in the tourist industry, having done market research and led tour groups around France. She is Italian and speaks French and English quite fluently. We met some of her friends from Spanish class (she is learning Spanish) in line for the movie. I was able to follow most of their conversation in French but my comprehension is far ahead of my speech. It's funny, both Patrizia and her friend from class were concerned that their English wasn't good. But I had to tell both of them that it was better than much of the English I had heard in America. I think that they must have extremely high standards here because to my ear both were very, very good. Certainly easily conversationally fluent. Very occasional mistakes. Perhaps their lack of confidence comes from their assessment of writing or reading English.. it certainly shouldn't come from their speaking of it. But this seems to be a common attitude here - if it is not perfect, it's not good enough. We saw Pedro Almodovar's new film (Parler avec Elle - Talk to her) in Castilian Spanish (they did the lisping thing which I think is kind of neat) with French sub-titles. I got about 70-80% of the dialogue from the sub-titles and thoroughly enjoyed the film. Post-dinner, we headed off to an Argentinian restaurant (Patrizia is thoroughly in love with Argentina having worked for their tourist industry and been there) and had a late (and I mean 2300hrs) bite to eat. All in all, the day ended much better than it began (my back has been hurting from carrying around this bloody heavy back pack all day). Why is it so heavy? Two French books - one dictionary, one verbs, one map book, one digital camera, one water bottle, it all seems to really add up. Plus not getting enough exercise. Though that should be solved shortly. Patrizia is inviting me to her gym on Monday night and I plan to check out my new neighborhood gym tomorrow. Tomorrow is our marché public. I plan to sleep late and work on translating some articles in Le Libération and L'Équipe to improve my French. A bientôt to all! |
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