Monday, May 10, 2010

Un Jour Magnifique (A magnificent day)

Paris

Cher Mes Amis (Dear Friends),
My travel legs are underneath me, and today was tres magnifique (awesome). I decided to jump in the water Francais (French), and I began swimming in the language. Roughly and excitedly translated: I had a very full conversation in French with an antique book seller, and she said, “C‘est parfait.” (It‘s perfect) to a couple of my responses, a Frenchman on the street smiled at me when I said, “Pardon“ (excuse me) at the right moment, and I was able to ask for an envelope for my postcards and tell the clerk that it was so very French that I just had to have one. He laughed!

However, a lot of my experiences are also like David Sedaris’ when he writes: “I wind up exhausting the listener before I even get to the verb.”

We had an excellent meal at “Benoit”, and this time we were not “shunted into English speakers’ Siberia in the back room” (Zagat guide). Mary is "la cuisine" guide, and she, too is "parfait".

It continues to be rainy and cold.

I have had emotional, teary experiences in these last days: a concert at St. Chapelle and remembering my first visit there as a 21-year old, the "Hommage to Jerome Robbins" where I cried when the dancers and the narrative of their bodies made me love my husband even more, and the opera we saw on Sunday (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) because it was a “tour de force” (heroic effort!) with its “super titles” in French that required me to see, read, and understand the story over the course of a three hour performance. I didn't get to first base, but I hit the ball and stayed in the game. That's worth a few sniffles and a tissue or two!

A bientot (until tomorrow)

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