Cyrano de Bergerac

Today was really cold, but deceptively sunny. So, when I went outside and figured, "hm, it can't be as cold as my computer says it is because the sun is shining," I decided not to bring gloves or a scarf. The problem was that it was really windy and cold at the same time. Needless to say, I came back quickly and stayed inside for the rest of the day. Apparently, I got a little sunburned, though. That's what Pierre said anyway. Too bad I already knew that "coup de soleil" was sunburn, or else I might have learned a new expression today.

Since that paragraph obviously isn't a proper blog entry, I figure that, in the spirit of my movie review from last night, I'll write about what I'm reading: Cyrano de Bergerac. I'm so close to being done, but I want to go to bed soon so I can wake up bright and early and be at l'ENS with tons of extra time. I'd love to read the end of this play in La Cour aux Ernests! Hopefully it will be sunny and warm!

Cyrano de Bergerac:

I love this edition that Pierre lent me. It's a critical edition, so it has footnotes for every reference, and appendices about the real Cyrano de Bergerac (who went to Louis-le-Grand, by the way) and his writings. In my l'ENS class, the male professor said that this play is the epitome of the ideal French person. He didn't say why, but it probably has something to do with Cyrano's wit, expert swordsmanship, tragically beautiful love story, or the giant nose. On second thought, it must be the nose. Forget the rest.

Act I: Basic introduction of main characters. Christian reveals that he is in love with Roxane, but is afraid to tell her. An idiot insults Cyrano's nose and Cyrano puts him in his place. First, he tells the man all of the insults that he could have used if he had just "varied the tone" a little. Then, he has a sword fight with him while composing a ballad, and at the last line, he wins! It's very quick, but of course, all written in l'alexandrin - the French classical verse, comparable to Shakespeare's iambic pentameter, but much more difficult. With the alexandrin, each line is twelve syllables, with four major accents, and it's also written in rhyming couplets. If that weren't impressive enough, there are different levels of rhymes. I won't get into all the details I learned from Professor Neefs last semester, but basically, the more letters that match, the better the rhyme unless, of course, it's the same word. The Academie would not like that! After the duel, Cyrano reveals that he too loves Roxane. The fact that she's his cousin is insignificant either because, back then, incest wasn't frowned upon like it is today, or because that sort of thing is acceptable in France. I'm not sure, but I hope it's just the former. In The Count of Monte Cristo, Mercedes ends up marrying her cousin, and that takes place much later (though it was written earlier, I believe).

Act II: Cyrano meets with Roxane, who reveals that she is in love with a man: he is in Cyrano's regiment, and he's brilliant, and...oh yeah, he's handsome. Oops...Cyrano was feeling very lucky until that part. Of course, then she says that she hasn't actually talked to this guy. But what if he's not brilliant? Cyrano asked. But Roxane is sure that he is, and begs Cyrano to be his friend. Cyrano has to be a good cousin and say yes, even though he is in love with her too. Later on, Cyrano actually meets Christian, and Christian is very quick to insult his nose. Why? Who knows? But his insults were remarkably clever and quick for a man who we later learn is quite stupid. Instead of killing or publicly shaming Christian like the loser from Act I, Cyrano befriends Christian and gives him the love letter that he had written to Roxane already. They decide to combine Christian's beauty with Cyrano's mind to create the perfect suitor for Roxane.

Act III: The balcony scene, which is much more comedic than romantic. Christian decides that he's learned an awful lot from Cyrano and that he's ready to talk to Roxane like a big boy. Cyrano tries to tell him, but he just doesn't listen. You see, Roxane is "une précieuse" so when she says "talk to me of love" she wants a very philosophical answer - a debate, like Plato would have had. These "précieuses" must have thought they were pretty smart, talking about love in philosophical ways, but Roxane doesn't even realize that Christian is an idiot and that it's actually Cyrano who starts talking after Christian makes a complete fool of himself. But, eventually, Cyrano saves the day for Christian and not only does he secure him a kiss, but he gets him married! This guy named De Guiche was coming to see Roxane, so she decided that she had to marry Christian tout de suite! But, De Guiche got there while they were getting married, so Cyrano pretended to have just fallen from the moon and told him fantastic tales about how to get to the moon until the two inside were married. My favorite was when he was asking where he had landed, guessing Algeria because De Guiche was wearing a black mask, then when he said it was just a mask, Cyrano guessed Venice. Finally, De Guiche said: "A lady is waiting for me" so Cyrano responds: "I am therefore in Paris!" It was cute. The interesting part was that the real Cyrano de Bergerac actually wrote a book about people on the moon. It was one of the earliest works of science fiction! I bet he was Jules Verne's inspiration!

Look at the time! It's past midnight. I guess I'll finish this tomorrow, unless I actually have something interesting to say about my day.

Nine

I didn't really do anything interesting today - at least, nothing that would be interesting to write about in a blog entry. Teaching English: I've written about it before, and writing about the two and a half hours I taught today would be boring. I saw a movie, finally at the cinema right across the street (next to the national library): Nine.

The movie theater is great! It's much cleaner than American movie theaters, but the portion sizes aren't smaller like you'd expect. I ordered a medium popcorn, figuring that a medium here would be the size of a small in the US, but the medium was huge! It may have even been the size of a large in the US - it was a bucket! The popcorn wasn't as good, though - they don't put much salt and butter on it. But, you have the choice of sweet or salty, just like with crepes! The theater was huge and the seats were comfortable and spacious. They were like long red sofas with arm rests, but no cup holders. Good thing I didn't get a drink. I don't know what I would have done with it. Now, the previews were too long. There were literally twenty minutes of previews, all of which had nothing to do with the movie I was going to see. I kind of like how, in American movies, they match the previews to the type of movie you're seeing (usually). But, I suppose the reason is that they don't seem to have half as many movies coming out in France as we do in the United States. Their previews also aren't as good as American ones - which is nice because then you can really tell which movies to see and which to skip. I mean, in the United States, advertisers are really good at making bad movies look fantastic in the previews. Example: Nine. That trailer was great. The movie was a mediocre mix of songs tying together something that didn't even resemble a story. The entire mess was decorated and filmed in a glitzy way, but even all the great actresses couldn't save it. I hope that's not the message French people are going to take about American movies: that they're all just lavishly decorated fluff. The strangest part about the movie, for me, was that it was a film about film making, sort of metafictional; at least, it would have been had the movie not looked like a musical. The whole direction kept redirecting itself to a set on a stage. I know it was a musical to begin with, but shouldn't a movie about film making not look like it's being performed on a stage? That "Be Italian" song will be stuck in my head for a while, though - just not any of the others, which I had forgotten before I left the theater. Oh, that's another difference. You leave through a different door than the entrance. The exit led through a chilly, creepy looking stairwell right out of the theater. There wasn't a garbage can on the way out either, at least, not that I saw.

I didn't take a picture with Quasimodo...

Translation: It's expressively forbidden to write on the lead, on the walls, to ring the bells, to throw things from the towers, and to litter at all under penalty of a fine.

This morning, I decided I was going to wake up early and climb up Notre-Dame. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like getting out of bed when I woke up, so I ended up getting there around 10:30. I bought a crepe (nutella - yum!) and waited in line...for an hour...By the time I actually got to go inside, the very top level was closed for "security purposes" aka lunch break. It didn't really matter, though - the view was still incredible and I got to see the famous gargoyles and a big bell! I wonder which Marie it was (in the book/musical, Quasimodo named three bells "Les Maries" - La petite Marie, pour les enfants qu'on met en terre; la grande Marie, pour les marins qui partent en mer; et la grosse Marie, pour les amants qui se marient - The little Marie, for the children they bury; the big Marie, for the sailors who go off to sea; and the fat Marie, for lovers who marry). Anyway, it was freezing and windy, but definitely worth five euros. If only I were a European citizen - then it would have been free. But in any case, this is a great way for fat Americans to lose weight for only five euros a day! Just climb up Notre-Dame! The spiral staircase seemed never ending, more so on the way down than the way up, surprisingly enough. The lady in front of me had to keep stopping every five seconds on the way up, but it gave me a chance to take pictures of the stairs. I would have counted how many steps, but I don't do math with numbers anymore.

This gargoyle is very angry that Le Centre de Georges Pompidou is right behind him...

After the tour, I decided to visit the crypt underneath the courtyard in front of Notre-Dame. After dodging a few gypsies, I got there. I swear, one of these days I'm going to lose it and steal something from a gypsy just because they bug me! The crypt was only two euros and it had some interesting ruins of Lutèce (the name of the Roman city that used to be where Paris is now). But, it was very obvious that they really don't have much of an idea what kind of city Lutèce was. They've just uncovered some ruins and are making hypotheses. While it's very interesting to think about, I don't know if it was worth the two euros to watch their thirty minute documentary about all the stuff they wish they knew. At least the documentary was in French!

Tonight was the last night of George Steiner at l'ENS, and I think Wednesday was the best night. This time, he talked about Schopenhauer and philosophy much more than he talked about literature. So, since I have virtually no background in philosophy - at least, not at his level - and since I have yet to read Schopenhauer, this speech went over my head. He said the name of an author that sounded familiar, though. Iris Murdoch. Remind me to look her up - I feel like I've heard the name before. Maybe it's just because I know someone named Stephanie Murdock. Anyway, the worst part was that there was no reception, so I didn't get to talk to George Steiner. But, at least he answered his question from Monday: "Can music lie?" The answer, according to George Steiner, is that he's not sure: certainly, music can describe dishonest people and false situations, but overall, he thinks that music is a language that is naively incapable of lying.

After the talk, Lu and I went to the university restaurant for dinner. Who knew that the dinners there were so good? I had a salmon pizza! 2,90! It's cheap, it's good, and it's plenty of food. I love that French people don't expect college students to go broke. Except, of course, that after all the traveling I'm going to be doing, I'll definitely be broke by the end of these four and a half months.

Stealing words from other languages

Well, it's something we do all the time in America: stealing words or expressions from other languages. In fact, there is so much in common between French and English, that typically, when I don't know a word here in French, chances are it's exactly the same as the English word. That wasn't the case today in my flute lesson, though. My teacher asked me what "la nuance" was, and I gave him a blank stare. I didn't get what he wanted me to say. I mean, how do you explain a nuance? It's a tiny little thing, and typically you don't explain a nuance - you just play in a nuanced way, I suppose. Anyway, I was confused because I've never been asked to explain a nuance before. I said something (honestly, I don't remember what...) and he pointed out that the dynamic was piano. For those non-musicians out there, that means quiet. So, I figured he meant I should be playing with nuances that were appropriate to a soft dynamic or something. Then, a few minutes later, he asked me what "la nuance" was and said not to look at the paper. After another blank stare, he finally realized that I wasn't sure if I really knew what "une nuance" was. He said it was forte (loud) and I came to my senses. Apparently, "la nuance" is the dynamic! I had assumed "dynamic" was "dynamique" but he said they only use "dynamique" for physics and other really technical things. To sum it up, I suppose that words aren't always the same, even when they look exactly the same! By the way, French people also pronounce the P at the beginning of the word psychiatrique. 


Other than my flute lesson, it wasn't a very interesting day except for the fact that I spent a ton of money on future weekend trips. I don't know when I'm going to have time to work when I'm going to Strasbourg, Normandy, Pisa and Florence, Belgium, Madrid and Granada, and who knows what else? That's four weekends and the first week of my spring break right there! I am here to study, right? Good thing Paris 8 is so much easier than Johns Hopkins and too bad l'ENS isn't. Speaking of l'ENS, I just found a very funny facebook group: Ecole Normale Supérieure en Alcool. Apparently, the students in this group think that what is really superior about the students at ENS is that they really know how to party. I'm going to have to investigate this. I had just assumed that it was like Hopkins, another school "where fun goes to die." Just kidding - everything's fun with George Steiner around! I can't wait for tomorrow! And no, Uncle Jeffrey, I don't need to calm down!


Just to add another thing I found on the internet: I decided to google my ENS course just for fun. This is what I found: "La validation consistera en un court travail écrit." (The grade will come from one short written assignment) Seriously - the whole grade from one written assignment? Short? What does ENS consider short? Justine has to do seven hour dissertations. What do they consider that? I bet "short" at l'ENS is like a four hour one. But still - it doesn't seem like enough to grade us on for an entire course!

Oops

I was in bed, falling asleep when I realized that I hadn't written a blog entry today. No wonder I couldn't sleep - it's become a part of my routine.

Anyway, today was an uneventful day until I saw George Steiner again tonight! But before I got to see him, I had to go to my Paris 8 history class and tell the professor that I had to leave during the break. I asked him if I could leave early, specifying over and over that I would never miss another class again, and he laughed and said: "C'est pas grave." It's a little annoying that Paris 8 is so laid-back. It's like the Brown of Paris, except I don't think the level is anywhere near as high. Maybe Oberlin. Half the class showed up late and missed the quiz. About the quizzes - last week, only one person got higher than a 10/20 (he doesn't count them if we get lower) and this week, I think I may have! If not, at least I was close. In reading the chapter underlining and focusing on memorizing all the things that seemed the most useless, I actually think I did a fairly good job. Eventually, though, the break came (not soon enough) and I rushed over to ENS (taking two metros and the RER B).

I got there just in time, and right when I did, the student who's been acting like he's in charge said that there were two seats available in the front. Now, at first, I thought that maybe I should let actual ENS students who got there on time take the seats. Then, I realized I had to go to the bathroom and I didn't want to stand up for the whole talk. Sometimes, it feels like I barely drink anything at all here, but I have to go to the bathroom twice as much. That's probably not the most appropriate thing to write in the blog, but it's part of my Paris experience, so why not? So, in the end, I took one of the two seats. I was so close to George Steiner! It was the best experience ever! In the middle of his talk, he looked up from his notes and actually looked straight at me and smiled as he was quoting Valéry! It was awesome, but I missed the quote exactly because I was so excited that he was looking at me! This talk was a lot harder to understand, since it was all about philosophy. I did like his discussion on Valéry and his relationship with math and dialogues. After the talk was over, I couldn't get out because it was so crowded, and then, I noticed that there was a reception afterward! ENS sure can throw a party for a genius. There were macarons (really great French cookies, kind of like high class oreos, but different flavors and much better - they're only like oreos because they're made up of two cookies with cream in the middle), salmon puffs, mini ham and cheese sandwiches, and champagne! I couldn't stay for long since I had to get back for dinner with my host family, but I will stay longer on Friday. In fact, on Friday, it's my new objective to talk to George Steiner! I was standing just a few inches away from him during the reception, but I was afraid to talk to him...

At dinner, my host family asked me if I owned a gun. Why does everyone in this country think that every American owns a gun? It's annoying! I didn't ask them why they weren't wearing berets...Anyway, I'm going to bed now. Hopefully, I'll have a really great blog entry Friday if I actually talk to George Steiner!

Being International

Today, I felt very international. I met my new German friend, Eileen, this morning by Cluny - La Sorbonne so that we could go to the Pantheon and then a photo exhibition at a museum in Le Marais. My new German friend is actually only half German: her father is American and her mother is German, and she lives in Berlin. She's been to the United States a few times, mostly to West Virginia (where her dad is), but she also has cousins in Ohio. Regardless of how many times she's been to the US, she speaks English perfectly - she started learning it when she was really young. Anyway, first she taught me how to do "la bise" correctly. Apparently I'm supposed to hesitate more and make loud sounds when I kiss people on both cheeks here. When we said goodbye at Chatelet after the museum visit, I was a pro!

Le Pantheon is exactly the same as it's always been, except that they finally put the pendulum back up. So, now I'm back to wondering why there's a 90 degree gap between 0 and 24. My French is better now than it was three years ago when I wondered that - maybe I should ask.

After saying hi to my peeps (and yes, I mean Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Pierre and Marie Curie, Emile Zola, Rousseau, Voltaire, etc.), Eileen and I went to Le Marais. This time, though, it wasn't for falafel! Finally! The photo exhibition was about prisons and it was downright depressing. Eileen thought it was interesting, though, because she said you never study prisons and how they change in history classes. She studies history, and French, and law. It's so cool to say, "I just met my German friend today. We spoke English and French, while seeing exhibits in Paris."

After that, I found a music store and bought Syrinx by Debussy. I can't wait to start playing it! Then, I taught English to Jerome. He saw "Shutter Island" and really liked it, but the best part was that he said he understood it because of me! I had told him that, for me, I hated watching French movies with English subtitles because it was too hard to concentrate in both languages. For me, it was ideal last year to watch a French movie with French subtitles, but since I've been here and my comprehension's improved so much, I don't mind seeing French movies sans sous-titres. So, I had told him that, if he was seeing American movies here with French subtitles and was having a hard time understanding them, then maybe he should try ignoring the subtitles. So, that's what he did when he watched "Shutter Island" and he said he understood 70 to 80%, and what he didn't understand was more just the psychological jargon and slang. He really liked the surprise ending too - I kind of wish I hadn't have seen it coming. That's probably why I wasn't thrilled with that movie. I can only imagine how boring "The Sixth Sense" would have been if I had realized that Bruce Willis had been dead the whole time.

Omelettes for dinner! I really am in France! Oh wait, I spelled that wrong - sorry, omelets. I thought that it was spelled omelette in English too, but according to Google's spell check, I'm just wrong. Well, I have to read my Louis XIV chapter and start memorizing the most minute details just in case I feel like getting above a 10/20 on the quiz tomorrow. Hopefully, the professor will let me leave early to see George Steiner again!!!

Le jour parfait !

Today was a perfect day! When I got up and ready, I took the RER to St. Michel and, since it was sunny and warm, I decided to walk from Notre-Dame to l'ENS. So, I passed Notre-Dame, Cluny, walked between Louis-le-Grand and La Sorbonne, toward the Pantheon with the Eiffel Tower right behind me, then to l'ENS for my class.

The class was really great today, even though half the class (including one of the two professors) was missing. We discussed "La Bibliothèque de la Pléiade," a collection of French classic literature, and also some other classics in general. Being inducted into La Bibliothèque de la Pléiade is a huge honor here in France, and so we were discussing how this collection sort of chooses which literature will be conserved and which literature will be forgotten. We discussed other similar collections as well, including Raymond Queneau's book: Pour une Bibliothèque Idéale. In that book, Queneau (one of the founders of l'OuLiPo, by the way) lists the hundred books that everyone in the entire world should read. Back to the Pléiade, though - I want to buy all of them! I still love my kindle, but these books are great! They're printed so they're small and portable, on bible paper, leather bound, and they're beautiful. Plus, I'm sure they have every book that I should have already read. But, we were also talking about how the Pléiade and Raymond Queneau's list are really just references for "rereading" because when you "read" a classic work, you're in fact "rereading" it. See: Pourquoi lire les classiques by Italo Calvino (another oulipien). The last item on the discussion was edition, and how these collections are constantly changing the definition of classic to encompass more and more works and also how each Pléiade book is a critical edition, with prefaces from contemporary authors, creating a link between the present and the past. To reiterate, it was such an informative lecture!

After my ENS class, I wasn't sure what to do. I had to stop by CUPA, so I picked up a crepe on the street, ate it in le jardin de Luxembourg, read a little of Cyrano de Bergerac, then went to CUPA. After that, I walked back through the garden, then around it when I decided that, since it was such a nice day, I'd get some more of that awesome gelato. Today, I had espresso and salted caramel together - it was to die for! I hate to say it, but the salted caramel gelato was better than the salted caramel Berthillon. I met up with Alexandra afterward - she ate, but I was stuffed. I had some great pineapple juice, though. Then, it was back to l'ENS for me so I could see George Steiner!!!!

That's what he looks like. He is so incredible! Even though I just decided he was my hero last night, I feel as though I made a perfect choice. Honestly, he's a better hero than Idina Menzel, no matter how well she can belt. George Steiner started the talk by informing me (okay, not me in particular, but everyone), that there were three subjects that were "penser pour penser" or "thinking for thinking's sake" and were, thus, completely useless though still interesting: Poetry/writing in general, including Philosophy, because philosophical writing is poetic as well; pure mathematics (but he had a great quote (loosely translated): "When God talks to himself, he speaks in algebra!"); and music (he asked us if music can lie...I'm not sure...). So, I'm pleased to announce that everything I do is completely useless according to George Steiner. I don't think he's saying I should do something else, though, since it's just like what he does. He majored in literature, math, and physics. Allison wants to marry him. I completely agree. In his discussion, "la disputation" (I wrote about it in a previous blog entry, in case you don't remember) was alive and well. Even though he was citing more than just ancient Greek and Roman texts and analyzing all of his references to prove his point, he was citing everything! He cited everything from Aristotle to Wittgenstein; from Pythagoras to Foucault. And he spoke very clearly, and surprisingly slowly in French, for the most part. Sometimes, he would quote an author in German, English, or Italian, but immediately afterward, he would translate the quote into French. I am definitely going to ask my history professor if I can leave halfway into the class on Wednesday so I can go to the next lecture: Dialogue et Dialectique. 

Aside from what Steiner actually said, I feel as though I should also mention that the room, La Salle des Actes, was PACKED! I got there ten minutes early and there was no where to sit. People were crowded around all the walls. I had to stand in the back next to a bust of some big nosed French guy. It was definitely worth it, but it reminded me of that time Bill Nye the Science Guy came to Hopkins to speak. And while I adored Bill Nye, George Steiner is just on a whole different level. Universe, even. It's just incredible that a school like l'ENS exists, with so many students who are so diligent and intelligent. The combination of them and George Steiner makes me feel inadequate, a little, but I'm learning a lot there. When I listen to a lecture there, I tend to forget that the lecture is in French, stop thinking in English entirely, and just focus on the subject. It's really exactly what I was hoping would happen when I decided to come to Paris and take French university courses. The only problem is that it's not like that in the universities. My Paris 8 classes (except for the history one, which is just hard for me because it's the one subject I don't really like) seem so simple. And I'm sure it's not the methodology difference that it's a lot less work and only a few graded assignments, because that's what the ENS course is too. They didn't give us bibliographies in the Paris 8 courses (except, once again, for the history professor's two textbooks), we're just reading excerpts, and I feel as though I'm just as well read and even more well read than the majority of the classes. And then, to top it off, at Paris 8, a ton of students are foreign (most are native French speakers, but still). The Sorbonne philosophy class is more difficult, but none of these classes compare to l'ENS. I wish CUPA had a special relationship with them. Johns Hopkins does, but I don't know why no one knows about it!