Free Events in Paris

I wrote a post last night and came back today to edit before posting but had not saved so it's all lost! Oh hum, I'll try again...

Paris, being a huge city, has tons of events to offer visitors and residents, some of which are free. We  decided over the past couple of weeks to check out some of the free events to see if they were worth the time spent. First, I registered on a website that offers free events in all categories from cinema and theater to sports and clubbing. I was surprised to see all the opportunities there were so tried to get tickets to a couple of movies to no avail. Then I tried the play section and scored tickets for 3 theater performances however there was only one that I would have paid the price to see. The first, Cabaret Les Chiche Capo at the  La Pépinière opéra, 7, rue Louis Le Grand, 75002 Paris, was a wacky male four-some, 3 actors plus a guitarist, who did an hour slap-stick routine. There was a female plant in the audience who created such laughter that she was almost better than those on stage. It was fun and even though I couldn't understand much of the spoken part, I enjoyed it. The second, Francisco E Cuhna at La Comédie des Boulevards, was a one-man show where he pretended to be in a therapy group with the audience members. There were a few funny moments but on the whole it was not really as funny as it could have been, according to the two French speakers who accompanied me. The third was the best, Amour et Chipolatas at La comédie Caumartin, 25, rue Caumartin, 75009 Paris, was about a young woman who was going to get married so she had a BBQ to introduce her fiancé to three of her ex-lovers. None of the men knew each other nor did they know what she had planned to announce. Two of the ex-lovers were still in love with her, the other was now gay, and her fiancé was completely jealous of the others, especially the non-gay ones. As one would imagine it was full of laughs and ridiculous male posturing. Again, my limited French was challenged but I understood most of it from the antics on stage.

 Then on Thursday I bought Parischope, a weekly publication Wed to Wed, that gives information on all the cultural events in the city and beyond. Here one finds schedules for all the movies, exhibits, performances, etc. Since we had been to 3 recent plays we found two free performances of music that sounded interesting. On Friday night we went to hear a quartet (2 violins, cello and piano) at the Auditorium St. Germaine des Prés at 8pm. It was Hommage à René Herbin but the first half was the music of Gabriel Fauré whose music I really loved. Although I wasn't familiar with either of these French composers, I was immediately drawn in to their elegant, mesmerizing compositions. I must also add that the auditorium was warm, comfortable (both surprising as we had expected it to be in a church which usually means no heat) and the musicians were all very accomplished. This was also the first time, I think, I've ever heard an all female quartet! It was exquisite!

Then on Saturday we decided to get into the spirit of the upcoming holidays and chose Ensemble Vocal Bergamasque, a concert of world Christmas music by Britten, Poulenc, Kvemo, Nystedt and others. The event was held in an ancient church, Eglise des Billetes, on the famous rue des Archives near Hôtel de Ville. The female director would hit a pitch fork against the side of her hand, move it quickly to her ear, hum out several notes for the 24-member vocal ensemble to grasp before singing each song a-cappella. Crystal clear soprano notes blended in perfect harmonies with the altos, ténors and basses filling the stone structure. For one piece the singers spread throughout the church directing their voices to the center of the room where they met and danced to the top of the dome before descending as soft as snow flakes to the ears of the pensive audience. I was brought to tears during this piece and left the concert feeling as uplifted as the angelic voices with which I had been graced.