On our first morning in France, we went to Paris. We were dropped off near an obelisk near the Seine and were given a couple of hours of free time. The Louvre was nearby, but Jenny said that the queue can take several hours and Claire said that the last time she went to France her parents, who were art enthusiasts, went to the Louvre for three days in a row, so consequently she wasn’t all too interested in the Louvre any more. We went to the Musée de l’Orangerie instead, which was a smaller art museum nearby. There was a good view of the Seine nearby, so we went to have a look in small groups so as not to lose our place in the queue. Nearby, a tour group from another school walked past wearing fluoro yellow jackets. We were grateful that we didn’t have to wear them!
I’m not an art enthusiast at all, so all this museum left me was the question of why there are so many naked people in art. I did find some paintings which interested me, though.
After the museum, we went for a walk to the cathedral where we would be playing next. On the way, Stevie J and Tori insisted on having a photo taken in front of a water fountain which they apparently visited as children. Once we had reached the cathedral, we were allowed to split up into small groups to explore the surrounding area and perhaps go shopping. This was a fairly expensive district so all we ended up doing was window shopping and meeting up with other groups which had arrived. Eventually, it was time to go back to the cathedral. On the way, I crossed when the pedestrian lights were green, which was a bad mistake on my part considering that I was in France and pedestrian lights don’t take turning traffic into account (turning traffic doesn’t have turning arrows to my knowledge, drivers turn when it’s safe to). First, I almost got run over by a white van rounding a corner and then I almost got run over by a motorcycle going in the opposite direction (in some roads in France, bikes and buses have special lanes and have to keep left instead of right). When I told Blake later, he said, “Okay, so first you almost get run over by a paedophile, and then you almost get run over by a bikie?”
At the cathedral, which was l’Église de la Madeleine (the Church of the Madeleine), Jess B met up with her family before we had a rehearsal. Only small instrumental groups were performing as well as Chorale. The acoustics in the church were great, especially in Joshua Fight de Battle ob Jerico.
Following the concert, we were driven down the Champs-Élysées to l’Arc de Triomphe. At first, I was a little scared that we would have to cross the roundabout, known historically as the Place de l’Étoile, but according to Wikipedia is now called the Place Charles de Gaulle. This roundabout is notorious as being one of the most difficult for motorists because not only are there three or so lanes in the roundabout, there are also twelve lanes leading in and out of it. If you don’t know what you are doing, you are in trouble. I didn’t have to worry for long, however, because we were soon led to an underpass that led directly to the central island where l’Arc de Triomphe stands.
Every evening, at 6.30pm Paris time, a ceremony known as the La Flamme ceremony takes place. Wind Orchestra performed our three ceremonial pieces (Largo, Blessed are They and Well Met, My Own True Love) as well as the French national anthem. After the ceremony, which I didn’t understand any more than I understood the one at the Menin Gate, one of the soldiers complimented us on our performance of La Marsellaise (the French national anthem).
After the ceremony, we were given some free time to wander down the Champs-Élysées in fairly large groups. We went to a few stores and I tried on something at one of the stores, but after experiencing just how annoying it was to go clothes shopping while wearing formal uniform, I gave up and just window shopped (though I did buy some earrings). Towards the end of our free time, we bumped into Murphy Minor who told us about the Sephora that she just visited, and all of the other girls in my group were excited about that so they insisted on visiting even though we didn’t have any time, much to the chagrin of the boys and I. It didn’t help matters that the Sephora store on the Champs-Élysées is massive either.
By the time we made it back to the restaurant we were to meet at, I thought we were the last group back. (I don’t think we were, as later on when I went to get non-carbonated water I think I saw some other people from our tour group queuing up.) The food was pretty good, but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to taste my dessert. I thought that I should go to the toilet before finishing my meal so that I didn’t get held up later, but the queue was far too long and moved far too slowly. To make matters worse, there was no toilet paper left by the time the last few people went so Murphy Minor had to give some tissues to people (unused, of course!). I had had tissues in my pocket, but unfortunately they were all used up due to my cold. I also had a full toilet roll in my bag (I find toilet rolls are better than packet tissues as packet tissues never seem to be absorbent enough for my nose, and besides Mr Hey had scared some of us, including me, by saying that there isn’t any toilet paper in public toilets in Hungary) but as we were told to bring only what was necessary to a crowded street such as the Champs-Élysées, I had left my bag on the bus and brought only my camera and the cleaning cloth for my glasses.
When we left, it was a rush to get back onto the buses. We were told to cross at the junction where the pedestrian lights were green, but I knew that it didn’t make too much of a difference because it’s France, so I made sure to look before crossing anyway. (I became a decent jaywalker in France because of the terrible pedestrian lights.) There were a couple of other people ahead of me because they’re more confident in their jaywalking abilities than I am, but I am a pretty good runner too, so I caught up to them. Eventually, after these annoyances, it was another hour or so drive back to our hotel in Senlis. The annoyances and long drive were pretty minor compared to the rest of the day, so overall I had a pretty good day with the bonuses of performing beneath the Arc de Triomphe and in the Church of the Madeleine.
No comments:
Post a Comment