Weekend Update: October 19th

Bonjour mes amis! David and I went to Paris this week! A great time was had by all. As a disclaimer, I will say that I did not find the stereotype of french people being super rude to be a real one. With a little knowledge of the French language and a scarf it is easy to not be mistaken for a tourist in Paris. Who knew. So here's the details of our journey across the English channel.

Monday:
FUN FACT! We missed our train to Paris! We accidentally set our alarm for 5 pm instead of 5 am, so needless to say that when we woke up at 7 am we were not on our 7 am train to Paris. Luckily when we did arrive at the train station, the super nice Eurostar lady got us on the next train, and we made it to Paris by lunch time. Although I was about to come unglued, everything was fine and we got to Paris alive and without having to pay extra to get on a new train.

We literally walked all of Paris on this trip. Like my feet were bleeding and my abs hurt from the amount of walking done and food eaten. We checked into our hostel which was near the Montmartre district. After a 10 minute walk, the first thing we saw was the breath taking Sacre Coeur Basilica (no offense Notre Dame but your interior has nothing on this place). We then got an awesome view of the city of Paris as Sacre Coeur is positioned high on a hill overlooking the city. Following this we walked through Montmartre and then got on the metro to go walk around near the Louvre.

Sacre Coeur

Café in Montmatre

Once off the metro, we were taken aback by the sheer size of the Louvre museum. I did not realize that it was the giant palace looking building that was staring us in the face. We had a nice walk through the Jardin des Tuileries which was originally designed by Catherine de Medici, one of the people responsible for bringing ballet to France in the 16th century. The Jardin leads then to the avenue Champs-Élysées which is famous for it's boogie shops and being the pathway to the arc de triomphe.

The Louvre 

Jardin de Tuileries

The Arc de Triomphe

After walking down the Champs-Élysées, we were super tired but then decided to walk to the Eifel Tower because it looked like it was close! It in fact was not close. And we did not go up in it because soooo many tourists were around and we obviously could not associate with that.

If you do not know what this is, I cannot help you

Tuesday:
After a full day of walking and eating (our dinner consisted of wine and cheese because we were full from lunch), we took a river cruise on the Seine. This was a great way to see central Paris as the Seine flows past all of the major sights. In addition, it was a great chance to see Parisian architecture at its finest. Every single building in Paris looks Parisian which sounds weird, but coming from London where things are not characteristically one thing or another, it was neat to see. Every single window is a French window that opens to a balcony. Like even in our tiny hostel. So much Paris. So very wow. SO here are some pictures from our cruise.

Notre Dame

If anyone would like to buy me a flat here, it'd be much appreciated

Or here, either one really

Following our river cruise, we grabbed lunch and went to see Notre Dame in all of its Gothic glory. It is truly awesome on the outside, and a little dark on the inside, but still it was very impressive to see a cathedral that has been nearly 1000 years in the making. I unfortunately did not see Quasimodo ringing the bells, but I did see all of the individually carved gargoyles on the front.

After Notre Dame we met up with our friend Sarah from LDA and did a little walking. We went to go see the Place de Vosges which was a beautiful secluded square off of the main touristy path. It is near where Victor Hugo lived and did some of his work. While walking we randomly stumbled into a tiny side square that was so quiet and peaceful! We ate our gelato and crêpes away from all of the tourists and just had a nice sit for a while.

Place de Vosges

Can I please live here tho?

We then decided to make the trek to the Père-Lachaise cemetery to see the graves of legends ranging from Oscar Wilde to Jim Morrison. This cemetery holds so much history in it. It is enormous and took us about 30 minutes to get from one end to the other. We tried and failed to find the graves of Georges Bizet and Molière, but things happen. It was also slightly terrifying as the sun was beginning to set and it looked like it was about to become the set of a murder movie.

The grave of Jim Morrison 

The late great modern master Isadora Duncan

Oscar Wilde

After walking a million miles again today, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner. I personally ate all of France in a 3 course meal with the main entrée being a fat beautiful steak. The French understand portion sizes and how to feed people. The British do not judging by the pitiful portions that I get whenever I go out to eat here. Vive la France.

Wednesday:
Today we got up and popped over to the Musée d'Orsay which is home to 17-19th century art with very impressive collection of works by Rodin, Monet, and Degas. It is beautifully set-up in an old train station. That being said, the set-up inside makes absolutely no sense, but whatever, we still had a great time.

Degas game strong

The view from the fifth floor, you can see Sacre Coeur in the distance

Hey there, friend.

Following the Museum, we headed over to the Canal St.Martin. Apparently this was supposed to be really nice, but I think we missed the nice part. We walked along it for literally a year and a half, and then ended up at some sketchy concert venue. We then just left and all was well. For dinner we decided to do some exploring so we walked, and walked, and walked (mostly the wrong way because I cannot read maps) AND ended up walking by the Moulin Rouge all lit up at night which was really cool! We then ate our weight at this hole in the wall restaurant that served pitas a gyros and the like. Score for France again with the excellent food.

Thursday:
This morning we got our happy selves up and went to The Louvre. I'm pretty sure that the Louvre is actually it's own country because it is huge. Everyone always says that it is really big, and my reaction before was "yeah yeah I've been to many museums, I know what a big museum is." I was wrong. You think you have seen the whole thing, and you have seen one out of three wings. Maybe. So we spent a good chunk of our day here until we could look at no more art because of sensory overload. I think we saw probably about 60% of the Louvre, and we were there for a good 7 hours I would say. Definitely not something to be missed if you are in Paris. My reaction to seeing many of the paintings was "Ohhhh it's that one." It was pretty cool, not going to lie.

Pretty sure that John the Baptist is pointing at the Holy Grail. Thanks, Dan Brown.

She's beauty and she's grace. Why is everyone obsessed with her? 

Even the ceilings are decked out with art. But only in Denon wing aka home to the masterpieces.

Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. All of his works were honestly much more beautiful in person, simply magnificent. 

Jacques-Louis David's The Coronation of Napoleon 

Dum Dum times three

A new addition to the collection: Me. 

Venus de Milo

After the Louvre we walked down the Champs-Èlysèes again and actually had the nerve to go into some of the stores. We then walked to get a glimpse of the Palais Garnier, home to the historic Paris Opera Ballet. I wish I would have been able to see a ballet here, I'm sure that the interior as just as beautiful as the exterior.

Friday:
We got up nice and early to check out of our hostel, and I wanted to go get a souvenir from Montmartre. I got a nice little canvas to hang in my new apartment when I get back to school. The lovely french woman that sold it to me gave it to me for only €20 instead of €25 because "the American dollar is weak right now." God bless.

After this and lunch it was time to go to the train station to depart for London. FUN FACT #2: We also missed our return train to Paris thanks to a peachy keen British border control officer at the end of his shift. #bless. So we got on the next train to London TO COME BACK AND PICK UP OUR BRO BOBBY. The one and only Bobby Ganzer journeyed from Roma to come stay with us for about 36 hours. So we clearly took him to the pub on Friday to show him how the English blokes kick it.

Saturday:
We got up to take Bobby on a Thames river cruise which was very choppy. Although I was not as in love with the Thames cruise as I was with every single sight along the Seine, I felt happy to be back in London and fortunate that I get to study in this awesome city.

Cheesin on the Thames

After our cruise we did the one thing that we know how to do best WHICH WAS TO GET TO FIVE GUYS. OH MY GOD FIVE GUYS WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT DAY. We all ate so much at Five Guys that we could not physically eat for the rest of the day (until dinner of course). We truly followed the American tradition of gorging oneself on Five Guys. Oh god. What. A. Time. After we had a nap we went to go see a new production of Kander and Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys directed and choreographed by the legendary Susan Stroman. Absolutely fantastic show, and I recommend seeing it if you ever have the chance. After the show we came home to watch movies and chill with Bobby until he had to leave our flat at 2:30 am to catch his 6 am flight... Poor Ganzer :-( Having Ganzer visit made me realize how much I miss home, but also how I am still having a lot of fun/learning a lot in London... so it was a conflicting time. And it was 3 am. But before I know it, I'm going to be back in Chitown, so I have to make sure I don't waste my last 6 weeks in London. 

Welp that is it for now. This is another HUGE week as we are going to see a production of Ibsen's The Wild Duck and going on a day trip to Oxford to see the college and a production of Othello. So stay tuned to see what happens. Over and out, y'all. 

Weekend Update: October 12th

Pip pip, cheerio, mind the gap, and cheers. It is finally Fall Break, thank the lord. After a crazy last week of classes, I have gotten to spend a low-key weekend in London and make my preparations to leave for Paris tomorrow morning. Here's a few hi-lights from the week:

Wednesday: 
I got the chance to go see Matthew Bourne's new production of Lord of the Flies. To be honest I did not like it, which was a huge disappointment to me, as I am a huge fan of his Swan Lake. I felt that the narrative of Lord of the Flies the novel is just not one that really makes good subject matter for a dance piece. Then to top it all off, his adaptation of the narrative just didn't work, there was not enough emphasis placed on the characterization of each member of the story. The audience loved it, much to my surprise and gave it a standing ovation, which honestly surprised me (as I have not seen a standing-o yet while here in London). I am glad that I got the chance to see a new work but such a prominent choreographer though, I will be able to tell people that I was there. 

Thursday:
After morning acting classes, we were treated to a masterclass about casting for film. This class really pricked my interest, as we were given the chance to short scene from a film (a side) for a camera, and get feedback from professional casting personnel. The people that came to put on the workshop were very nice and supportive and had great advice to offer.
Following this I went to go see the new West End production of Urinetown!!! It was interesting! The design and tech were excellent, and I thought that the production struck a good balance between campy musical theatre and serious statement about how we live unsustainably. I will say however, that American MTs can teach these West Enders a thing or two about screlting, as the screlting was rather weak (yes that is a real critique that I have). BUT AGAIN I am really glad that I got to see this show. I learn something from every show that I see, and if I didn't learn ONE THING it's because I wasn't paying enough attention. 

Friday: 
After being so wiped out that we literally could not even, David and I decided to go see a movie. This was mostly because we were inspired by the film workshop from the day before. Let me just lay a few things down for you about seeing movies in the UK and how it's different from 'Murica. So it's more expensive to go see a movie here. We got a nice student rate of £8 or so, but some movies can cost you upwards of £15 i.e. almost $30. We went to go see Gone Girl at the Odeon down the street from us. We were very surprised that it is possible to have even more ads before a movie than in America. We literally sat through 40 minutes of ads and previews. ALSO THE SCREEN WAS TINY. When I go to the movies, I expect to see a nice big mega screen. I don't know if it was just this movie theatre or what, but the screen was about a quarter of the size of what a regular one would be back home. That being said I did enjoy the movie, not as much as the book, but still good. 

Saturday: 
We got a good night's sleep, so we decided to do a little venturing out into London to take advantage of the free time that we have this weekend. We decided to go to the Tate Modern Art Museum and then ended up also going back to The Globe to see the closing night of Julius Caesar. To answer your burning questions, yes, all I do in London is go see shows, movies, and museums. So little time, so much to see, gotta see it all. The Tate had some exhibits that I really clicked with and others that did not. It is a really neat space for a museum and is always changing, and the best part is that it is free!!
JC was very good, as expected (much better than Comedy of Errors that we saw there earlier). I could not get over the fact that Julius Caesar looked like Robert De Niro though, so that was interesting. But it was very neat to see a show at The Globe at night, which is not how anyone in Elizabethan times would have seen it because there were no fancy stage lights. The Globe was well worth returning to. 

The view from the top of The Tate

Tate can't even handle our swag

Et tu Brute?

Sunday:
Ah yes, the lord's day. Today we celebrated Fall Break by getting our first traditional English breakfast. I was treated to a feast of bacon, eggs (which I didn't eat shhhhh), hash browns, sausage, baked beans, toast, and to top it all off a mimosa BECAUSE I AM LUCILE BLUTH. Thankfully there was no pig's blood or whatever is sometimes included in real English breakfasts because I would probably faint upon seeing it. Simply smashing is all that I have to say. Also to everyone that warned me that I was going to starve in London because I am a picky eater, you were wrong. After that I had a nice and relaxing day where I strolled through London and visited the National Gallery, and came home and PACK TO GO TO PARIS. 

Yes tomorrow morning à sept heures, we are going to Pais for 5 days for Fall Break, followed by the one and only Bobby Ganzer guest starring in the next blog post while he visits London for a weekend. I'm probably going to lie to the French people and tell them that I'm Canadian so they don't hate me. Over and out, y'all. 

Weekend Update: October, 6th (... A few days late)

Cheers one and all! It's me again. Sorry for being a few days late, but the weekend was jam-packed with so many fun activities (aka sleeping for many hours) that I haven't had a spare second until now.

Tuesday-
Today after a long day of classes (what else is new though) we got the opportunity to go the National Theatre to see a new show by Irish playwright Enda Walsh called Ballyturk. It was phenomenal and starred Cillian Murphy from movies such as Inception and the Batman movies. Seriously this was one of the best shows that I have seen with stand-out performances by all three of the actors. I don't want to spoil too much of the show but it followed these two men that were locked in a room and what happens when they are given the option to pick the one man that gets to leave the room. It was intense and crazy, but definitely memorable.

View from the bridge at night

Friday- 
We got the chance tonight to go see a production that one of our teachers directed and created! Our Physical Theatre teacher Ally directed/created an ensemble work called Beyond Cragporth Rock. It was a nice contrast to the show we saw on Tuesday as the venue was the converted upper floor of a bar with a nice blackbox setup. The show was awesome and really incorporated a lot of what we have been working on in Physical Theatre with the LeCoq method etc. And it was just cool to see the work of one of our teachers in a setting outside of the classroom. 

Saturday-
AKA THE DAY MY LIFE CHANGED FOREVER. So today I went to the Royal Opera House to see the Royal Ballet perform, which if you could not glean from the previous sentence, was clearly life-changing. Royal was performing MacMillan's Manon in celebration of the work being created forty years ago. Everything about this production was superb. Roberta Marquez as Manon and Steven McRae as Des Grieux were PHENOMENAL. They both brought a rare mix of performance and raw technique to the stage, which is much harder to find than you would think. MacMillan's choreography is stunning, and the multiple pas de deux in this piece were among the most intricate I have ever seen. I can definitely see MacMillan's choreography being influenced by Ashton, Balanchine, Nijinsky, and even Humphrey and Graham. The ballet was done in three acts, with each act moving away from classical movement to modern movement as well as shifting from strictly narrative to more expressive. This piece is very critical to look at in order to understand the many changes that were happening in dance at the time. I hope that I get the chance to go back to the Royal Opera house to see more dance there, as this was definitely a show that I will never forget. 

My awful attempt at a panorama shot of The Royal Opera House

Sunday-
This morning I got up semi-early to go visit the Victoria and Albert Museum to work on the ongoing project we are working on in acting class called building a character. I am lucky enough to only be about 20 minutes away from the V&A AND IT'S FREE so there are really no cons to this situation. I was absolutely enamored and inspired by the collections at the museum. There is really no rhyme or reason to what exactly is in this museum, but there are just various collections that are sure to please anyone. Although I did not fulfill my objective of finding out more about my character, I throughly enjoyed the room of giant Raphael paintings. It was also very odd but rather satisfying to see a piece of art and say to myself "wow, this has been in every history text book I have ever had, and I am now seeing the real deal." I took a couple of pictures, but not that many because I was too busy exploring. I can't wait to make it back here so that I can really look at a few more galleries in depth. 

Margot Fonteyn's Odile tutu from Swan Lake

I have no idea what this was, but a huge doorway was just chillin' inside here

I really took a picture of this because I did not know how they got this inside here

Well that's a shorter post, but that's all I got for you. The week is blazing by and I have a lot of things to accomplish before I can go on FALL BREAK which is including a 5 day trip to Paris!!!! Things that may be happening this week (so you'll just have to tune in and find out): seeing the one and only Lindsay Lohan in Mamet's Speed the Plow, seeing the new Urinetown, another trip to the Globe to see Julius Cesar, and another trip to Sadler's Wells to see Matthew Bourne's Lord of the Flies (although it's technically sold out, but if there's a will there's a way). Over and out, y'all!