paris . . . cinq

{my patio
this morning}

i meant to
finish up
my paris stories
on friday
but...

so sorry
for the delay.

. . . . .

there are so many
stories
left to tell
but i think
i should wrap up
with two
excursions
that
i'd like to share...

i mentioned
that my parents met
at
the comedie francaise...

. . . . .

if you wait
until
about
a half hour
before
a performance at
the the comedie francaise,
they sell
cheap tickets
for the
nose-bleed seats....
that's what
my mom
and her friends
did
when they were
poor students.
they'd show up
about 2 hours
before
the show started,
stand in line
for about
an hour
and get
their tickets
{for about
a dollar
or two}.

the seats were
way up high
but you could see
just fine...

the only problem
was
it was difficult
to hear
and
if you are not
a native speaker,
you really really
want to hear
everything.

my dad
had decided
to go to
the theatre
that night...
they sold him
the very last
of the cheap tickets
(all other tickets
were long-since
sold out).
my dad,
although
fluent in french,
is hard of hearing
and has
a difficult time
understanding
spoken french...
but
that night
they happened
to be performing
one of
his favorite plays
that he knew
by heart in both
english and french.

he arrived late.
they sold him
a seat
that wasn't really
a seat
but rather
a fold down
usher seat.
so not only did
he come in late
but he had
to fold down
this really loud
wooden seat
next to my mom.

she
{and everyone else}
hushed him
angrily.

my mother
happened to be
with
her english friend
who
didn't speak french
very well,
so after the show
my dad heard them
speaking english
and
started
a conversation...

the next day
they all met
for coffee
and had
a wonderful time.
my mother
was impressed
that an american
could know
so much
about french
and
german literature.
this is one of the
reasons
she gave
an american
the time of day.

. . . . .

my mother
and i went
to see
cyrano de bergerac

(because i knew
the story well)...

the theatre hadn't
changed one bit

(except for backstage).
it was beautiful
and quite an
amazing experience
to go there
with my mom.
we didn't sit up high
because she wanted
me to be able
to hear properly
but we went up
to the nose-bleed seats
during intermission.
i only had
a moment
to take it all in
but it made quite
the impression...
to look down
from those seats
like my mother
and father did
over 40 years ago.

. . . . .

while in paris
i,
of course,
had to drag
my mother
to
the fleamarket.


she had
never been there
and
afterwards admitted
it was
quite something.
we barely
grazed the surface...
there were just
so many
little markets...
we only saw
most of
marché vernaison.
there were
so many amazing things...
but unfortunately
everything
was so overpriced...
i treated myself
to some buttons,
french type blocks,
and doll eyes

in a
wonderful store
that
would be
joseph cornell's
heaven.
i must return
there
next year.
i really can't even
describe to you
how many
amazingly cool things
there were...

from vintage industrial
draft stools
to old scientific
tooth models.
i wanted the
tooth model
{i have a thing
for old science models)
but i settled on
an old
educational
poster
from 1960s
on germination
with all the parts
of a flower
labeled in french.
i desperately wanted
the silkworm
poster but
for some reason
it was 70 euros
and i was way
to shy to haggle.


i hear there
are much cheaper
less touristy markets.
i will have to find them
but i am afraid
unless the dollar
starts
getting stronger,
vintage shopping
in paris
will be out of
my reach.

. . . . .

i hope that
you
enjoyed
my little
paris vignettes...
thanks for
sharing them
with me.

i'll leave you
with my view
of the
chesapeake bay
as i flew into dc
from paris.



polaroids
and
collages
tomorrow!

xo