Opéra Comique

Last night I accompanied Gabriella to the Opéra Comique for a preview presentation of their coming season. A panel of four people talked about the offerings and a pianist and singers performed a few pieces to wet our appetites. The building itself is something to behold. We sat on the third tier looking out over the stage below and at winged angels in front of us. Human sculpted figures hold up different levels of balconies and gold leafed ornate designs flourish amid classical painted scenes from the 18th century. After the event, they hosted us to hors d'oeuvres and wine. It was a nice, short, but very interesting, evening event. Here's their website

http://www.opera-comique.com/fr/opera-comique-2-2/

Avignon, France

This past weekend I went with a French friend to visit the city of Avignon in Provence. Anyone raised in the Catholic religion will know that the city was the seat of the papacy during part of the 14th century. Of course the papacy was like the government for all of the Catholic world, which at that time included much of Europe. The pope himself was like a king so he lived like one! The Catholic churches with their grandiose sizes, their gold tabernacles, embroidered vestments, chalices, etc., masterpiece artworks, ornate architectures, etc. are testaments to the riches that the pope and clergy amassed over the centuries. Since there was so much constructions to be done in Avignon when the papacy relocated there, many of the best architects, weavers, painters, and sculpture artists, craftspeople, etc. moved there. Consequently, there are many incredible remains from that period, as well as from long before since Avignon has always been important because of its strategic location along the Rhone. The entire old city is surrounded by a Medieval wall punctuated with intermittent ports or entrances. You can see where parts have been repaired but it is in exceptionally good condition, as are most of the monuments. It's easy to see why the city has received the UNESCO World Heritage designation. We spent our three days visiting the Palais des Papes, the Museum du Petit Palais, Pont St. Benezet, and minor churches in the village. On Saturday we walked across the bridge that connects Avignon with Villeneuve des Avignon and explored some of the churches and cloisters. We got there during lunch time and the tower at the foot of the hill was closed so we proceeded up the hill to the small town center where we lucked upon a great little restaurant for lunch, Le Saint André. They are mentioned in one of the Michelin Guides and I have to say they offered a full hot plate that was also delicious for vegetarians, not common in France. After eating we visited an abby then headed to the top of the hill to see the fort that was closing for the afternoon. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see anything but the entrance but it's something to return for in the future since it is also wonderfully preserved. Sunday we did one of the walking tours in Avignon and discovered more wonderful jewels before boarding the TGV, fast train, to return to Paris. In addition to seeing such great sights, I also got 3 great days of French language immersion with my friend Monique!

Arles, France

This past weekend I had the good fortune to be able to visit Arles which is a small town in the southern part of Provence. It sits at the convergence of the large and small Rhone Rivers inland a bit from the northern Mediterranean Sea. I was expecting warm temps since I have an image of the Mediterranean being forever warm, but it was far from that. It's been a very cold and unusual winter so Arles actually had some remnants of snow scattered about. The wind was very strong so I'm sure it felt a lot colder than it was.

Arles is a UNESCO World Heritage site so I spent 2 plus days exploring Roman and Medieval ruins, viewing artwork, and relaxing in the hotel in the heart of the old city. This town has Greek and Roman pasts with the Romans leaving their marble footprints, some of which are not only still visible but still in use today. Julius Cesar is noted as founding Arles as a Roman colony around 46 BC. The city's two most famous Roman ruins are the Roman amphitheatre where they staged the infamous sporting events with wild animals and gladiators and chariot races and the Theatre Antique seen here on the left which was a huge complex for drama. Today, the city hosts bullfights in the amphitheatre, while the Theatre Antique is being restored to some of its previous grandeur with future plans to use it as it once was. Below the Place de la Republique is the enormous Les Cryptoportiques from the 1st century that served as a storage place for agricultural products and wine as well as for other public needs. As I walked under the perfectly formed barrel-shaped ceilings, I couldn't help but to marvel at Roman engineering. There are also remnants of the Roman baths where the entire population, rich and poor, would go to bathe every evening. These are located very close to the Rhone as an obvious source of water. Medieval churches and cloisters seem to be around every corner and the winding, narrow, maze-like streets give one the feel of what life must have been like during the Middle Ages. Much, much later Van Gogh lived here and found inspiration from the light and colors of the town. We ate at the Café de la Nuit that was the subject for one of his famous paintings but none of his original works exist in Arles. The Musée Réattu had some works that Picasso donated that I enjoyed seeing since they were mostly simple, small pieces that aren't normally seen. My favorite museum was the contemporary Musée de l'Arles Antique that holds a huge collection of prehistoric to the VI century artifacts found in the region. They have recently added hundreds of objects to their permanent collection that were brought up from an excavation in the Rhone river. Objects from ship wrecks centuries ago but also things that people took to the river and threw in, sort of like the city garbage dump of everyday things that didn't have any more value or use. The last room of this collection had a magnificent bust of Jules Cesar! A picture is worth a thousand words so check out the city's website for great photos and tons of information. http://www.tourisme.ville-arles.fr/