This is my blog from the first day in Paris. Here is a picture of the woolen fashions of Paris in the late fall, and a picture of Michael Moore's film advertised in a Parisian Kiosk in Sevres Babylone.
I have been so busy preparing my English lessons, with only the thought of doing things like making power point explanations of Grammar, or putting quizzes on Blackboard CT that I almost forgot the promotional ticket on KLM that I had reserved two months ago to spend the Hajj vacation in Paris.
Paris is such a stimulating intellectual expereince for me. Even on the Plane, KLM had the Saturday le Monde(le monde is always pubished the day before in the afternoon; so the Friday afternoon--i.e. Saturday--issue was already in Amsterdam for the 7:15 am flight to Paris CDG. There was a fascinating interviews with a biographer of Camus, Olivier Todd, on Camus and Sartre. Camus is in the news now because Sarkozy wants to "Pantheonise" him--have him buried with Napoleon in the Pantheon. I had confused Camus with Sartre, who, en fin de compte, malgré son gauchisme, was against the Algerian rebellion against French colonialism. Camus, though a pied noir, born in Algeria, supported some of the early uprisings of the Algerians. But mostly he was a writer for the writer's sake. He joined the PC francais, but denied it for a chance to go to the US on a visit during the Witch hunt era, --a fact which his biographer finds strange, since he was such a believer in honesty.
I took some pictures right in the Airport to show you how nice CDG is. I am staying at the Jules Ferry Youth Hostel, right near Place de la Republique and Bastille. I went to the Louvre today because on the Plane, I watched a documentary about the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre!!! Yes, an italian immigrant carpenter, a certain, Mr. Perugia, who had worked for a time putting the mona lisa in a glass frame, walked in on a Monday when the museum, in those days was closed and had no guards, or at least only minimal guards while the workers moved paintings around and such types of cleaning. He kept the painting in his room for two years, the police never found him, and then took a train to Florence after writing to an Italian art dealer that he wanted to bring the Mona Lisa back to Italy. The art dealer consulted with the head of the Ufizzi and decided to meet him to see if he were a prankster or not. They took the painting, recognizing it as the original, left him in the hotel and sent the carbinieri to arrest him. He was put in jail for two years and then released. The Mona Lisa was on display in the Ufizzi for a month--long lines came to see it. So the wish of the thief became a reality before the Italians did indeed return the Mona Lisa to the Louvre.
My first day in Paris, the day the plane arrived was everything I could have wanted it to be. Michael Moore's new film, Capitalism, a Love Affair, was in the kiosks because it is coming out Nov. 27. I bought a "carnet de dix" and took my favorite busses and watched the people in the sunshine and last day of autumn, a sort of Indian Summer with people in simple "vestes" ou un "pull", rairly with the famous black woolen coats of the Parisians in Winter.
At a little before 4pm, I was looking at the posters outside the Comédie Française, Théatre du Vieux Colombier, in the 6th arrondissement, when a young man, perhaps a teacher, offered me a free ticket to the 4 o'clock show because the people he had invited--perhaps his class? had not come. So I treated myself to my first experience in this branch theater of the Comédie Française. It was an interview with the costume designer, coutumier, of the Comedie Francaise, a certain Renato Bianchi. The librarian--archiviste--of the Comédie Française was the main sort of master of ceremonies getting two actual actors, comédiens, from the Comédie Française, (on the program, the actors are referred to as "sociétaires de la Comédie Française") to comment on Renato's work with them as they all sat on stage and spoke in their wonderfully articulated French--especially the comédiens. The young archiviste; Agathe Sanjuan had spliced together some readings of the historic descriptions of the costume rules in the Comédie Française, and these were read by a student (eleve comedien) of the Comédie Française. Also wonderfully read. Finally they had some pictures of the costumes and Renato went into some detail on the change that happened when he came where there was a desire for researching the authenticity of costumes. He said it was sort of archaeological work. They bought a whole bunch of old period clothes from Italy. Further on in the program they talked about the tissue of the costumes, and later again on how the costumes are made to fit the actors. Finally, they showed pictures of Renato and his assistants turning the blue lines on the "tissue" which they had used to fit the actor, into sewed cloth for another "essai." and then the final cutting. Renato talked a long time about what was going on in the blue lines--almost trade secrets, that was hard to understand, but I could see why when, later, just before closing because time was running out, Agathe asked him to comment on what someone who wanted to be a "costumier" should study, and Renato said he or she should study to be a couturier. I don't know how we would translate couturier in English. But, of course it is the special tailor who designs "la haute couture," not necessarily a "tailleur," or taylor.(I just passed a men's "tailleur" near the Opéra, before writing this, which had a video in the window of the tailor cutting and fitting like Renato in the Comédie Française At one point Renato said a very telling thing. He said that in the old days when you apprenticed to be a couturier, you were CORRECTED. But that now no one ever corrects you. It made me realize that the fitting that goes into the European or British suit, with it's padded shoulders, for example, is really out now. The American look is just casual sloppy, doesn't enhance the body. By a freak, here too was a connection with my trip from Dammam. KLM provided a taxi-limosine from Al-Khobar to Bahrain airport to catch the KLM plane to Amsterdam, and during the taxi ride, we watched part of an American series where young aspiring fashion designers compete in the fashion world. Everything was "create an iconic image of New York for this shoot"--they were given the choice of the best photographers and models and then had to make an iconic new york shot. They just dressed a model in a tee shirt and had him eating hot dogs with mustard, or another dressed a model in old boots and a brown sack and had him throw a blanket in extasy has he saw the Stature of Liberty on the Staten Island ferry. Yet another commissioned an African American friend in the sewing trade to make an evening dress out of the American flag. All this TV stuff strikes me as being SO patriotic as everything has to be in the US as it goes to war in 3 different places to protect itself from "terrorism."
Such a difference between how the Parisians wear clothes. Especially the women. Every woman has someting different. A yellow scarf here, black tights with boots of various kinds, even blue jeans with a big patch of black and white cotton repairing a pretend tear in the rear end, wonderful assortment of sweaters of various lengths.
The men, too, sometimes wear jackets--"coutourier jackets?" with the sort of "bulkiness" of design similar to the costume Renato was making in the slides at the Comedie Francaise, as he fitted an actor who was to play a man with a big (artificial) stomach. You don't see what they wear for sale in the deparment stores. They just seem to invent them from what they have in the home. Black is especially prevalent in Paris, and like the Parisians, I was able to buy a black wool coat made in China in Saudi Arabia, which gets a lot of cheap things from China, for about $40 instead of $400. But it looks just as good.
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