L'Opéra Garnier

On Monday my class went to the Opera Garnier, aka Le Palais Garnier, aka Theatre National de l'Opera de Paris, aka Academie Nationale de Musique. . . . .but whatever you call it it's the opera The Phantom of the Opera takes place in. Unfortunately there was some remodeling going on, so the side and back facade were completely covered and we could hear power saws during our tour. But nevertheless, the elaborate staircase and gold laden foyer were quite impressive. Our tour guide was very well versed on the history of the building, and he was very easy to listen to, but maybe that's because he looked like a French Neil Patrick Harris. I didn't realize that the opera was actually built on top of a "lake" and that a counterweight for the grand chandelier had fallen and killed someone, thus the origin of both concepts in the book. Because there was a rehearsal going on we couldn't even go into the auditorium, but hopefully I can go back for a performance.

I finally bought a new hairdryer and straightener because my American hairdryer kind of exploded even with the right converter. I wandered around the Place de la Republique until I found the electronics store Darty. When I plugged in my new French hair dryer it failed to turn on, but after changing outlets it worked, so I think I most likely destroyed the outlet with my American hair dryer. Ooooops.

This morning my host mom laughed at me because I was cutting pieces of my baguette and putting jelly on them one at a time instead of eating it all at once, but it's easier to cut a baguette than to bite it! For lunch I once again passed on French food and ate at a Thai restaurant. The ethnic food is usually cheaper and certainly faster than a French cafe.

I'm quite ready for the practicum to be over and to start my history and literature classes. Today my friends and I tried to plan our weekend and fall break trips but it's very hard to coordinate a group of people with different wants and plans. I am planning to see Elise in Cairo during fall break because that's what I've been planning on doing since day one. But hopefully I can see some of Italy with my friends on the way to and from Cairo.

A bientot!
Sarah