Radio France Info has put up a huge parrot on the side of Maison de la Radio, I supposed to promise that it will cover the bird flu well. Today they interviewed a butcher who said that usually he sells 150 chickens a week and this week he has sold three.
A, who is a vegetarian, says the bird flu and mad cow disease are God's way of telling us that eating animals is bad.
Today I took A, C, E and her friend from New York City to see "Peter Pan" at the Théâtre des Variétés on the Grands Boulevards. I had called ahead to make sure it was a musical version, but it was not the music we were expecting, the songs you hear from the Mary Martin movie ("J'veux pas grandir! J'veux pas grandir!" "You can fly! Tu t'envoles!"). Instead, as the Lost Boys were building a house around the fallen Wendy, they suddenly broke out into French rap. E and her friend exchanged delighted, incredulous glances and almost high-fived each other. Later there were more unusual touches: the Indians marching gravely down the aisle in full eagle-feather regalia, the chief saying "How!"--impossible in modern America; the pirates dancing a stiff-legged Irish jig with the Lost Boys; a very sexy dance by "Lili la Tigresse"; and a tap dance on the deck of the Jolly Roger. At the end of the spectacle, three tiny girls walked up the ramp to the stage while the actors were still bowing and held out papers for Wendy and Peter to autograph. The actors didn't quite know what to do, but after a look over their shoulders, they smilingly signed as the curtain dropped behind them. It was funny to see that when Peter Pan stopped moving (Peter was played by a real boy, for once), he suddenly looked much older-- 18, instead of 13 or 14.
Afterwards we went to a café and sat outside watching the stream of people. The Grands Boulevards are crowded and cheerful during French school holidays, full of out-of-town children all dressed up, come to see shows and the Musée Grevin, the Paris waxworks museum. The Grands Boulevards curve in a wide arc north of the old city and in fact trace the old city walls of Paris. Two of the gates are still there, memorialized with triumphal arches at the Porte Saint-Denis (this arches over the old Roman road) and the Porte Saint-Martin.This has been the theater district of Paris for the past 200 years. 
The Théâtre des Variétés was built in 1807 (painted above the stage) and is very much like the theater featured in one of my favorite movies, Les enfants du paradis (paradis meant the "nosebleed" balconies; so the Children of Paradise were those who could afford only the cheapest tickets). The theater still looks just as it did in 1807 (right).
Afterwards I drove E's friend back to her apartment and then home. Here you can see part of my commute. Notice how everyone is wearing black.
And can the Lost Boys rap well in French?
Posted by: Neil | 27 October 2005 at 18:05