11 October 2007

 

            Yesterday I went to the Louvre with my Art and Architecture class, and then to La Comedie-Francaise with my French theater class to see Le Mariage de Figaro.

 

            There are about 30 of us in my Art and Architecture class, and when we go into the Louvre it’s always really funny to see the people just sweeping out of the way of our enormous tour group. Yesterday we walked in and our teacher saw that one section of the Louvre which is usually closed (the history of the Louvre) was open, so we took advantage of the opportunity and went in and walked around. I love that we can do that, just sort of change class plans on a whim. Anyway, after that we went to look at some paintings of de la Champagne, Vouet, Poussin, and la Lorrain. They are all history painters, which, I guess, means that they paint scenes from the Bible or from classical myths, and they paint in the Baroque style as well (but I’m not absolutely sure). This should indicate to you that I know next to nothing about art. In class, I try to overcompensate for this utter lack of knowledge, since quite a few of the other students have taken Art History 101 before, and I have not. Consequently, yesterday we were looking at some history paintings by Poussin, and our professor wanted us to try to say what the painting was depicting. I whipped out the exact scene from the Old Testament. When we moved onto another painting and I did it again, the professor was very impressed. She was just explaining how people in that age got a classical education and would know all of this, while we got a different kind of education and probably wouldn’t be able to figure it out. The only reason I could, of course, is Guided Studies. It’s so useful here! Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that I know already that we have to review. In my European Union class, we’re learning about imperialism and colonialism now. I KNOW ALL OF THIS ALREADY! Not only did I learn about it in Guided Studies, but also in AP European History back in high school. I thought in an EU class, we might learn about the EU. Enough about that.

 

La Comedie-Francaise is the oldest theater in Paris, and perhaps in France. It was founded in 1680, under the reign of Henri III, I believe. Anyway, it’s absolutely beautiful. There are marble busts everywhere of famous French playwrights, and inside the theater is all red velvet and gold inside. The play itself was written in the beginning of the 1700’s, by Beaumarchais. I had to read it about three times, all the way through, before I really understood it, because it’s almost like reading Shakespeare, but in French. Anyway, I loved the play. It was really really funny, and the director tried to set it sort of in the 20th century with the costumes, but at the same time did some really bizarre stuff with the set (there were some upside down deer, that’s all I’m going to say). My favorite character/actor was Figaro/Laurent Stocker, and after we all got out of the play some of us waited by the actor’s exit, and we got to talk to him and to some of the other actors. It was really fantastic to be able to do that.

 This weekend I am off to Normandy with the rest of the kids from school to see the Normandy beaches, the cemetery, and some churches or something like that. Bon voyage!