Day 11 and 12: Ballet at the Palace

Day 11 was the first time we left the city since we arrived in Paris.  While I absolutely love it here, the change of scenery was definitely nice.  Unfortunately this change of scenery came with a heat wave.  While I know its probably way hotter back in the US, days like this make me miss air conditioning and cold drinks.  Despite the heat, The castle of Versailles was great.  Literally every inch of it was ornamented; not too bad for a hunting lodge.  If I had to, I could live there.  My favorite thing was probably the row boats.  Going out in the water was just a really relaxing way to see the grounds and people-watch.  It also helped that I was not the one rowing the boat (Caroline is practically a professional).  The one weird thing that really stood out to me was Marie-Antoinette's Hamlet.  I don't really understand why she would want to create a "play" village where she and her friends could go when they were bored.  It seems to me almost like she was mocking the lifestyle of the everyday person.  I can see why she wasn't very liked.  I wouldn't have liked her.

Day 12 was a much needed break.  Instead of going out, I decided to do some much needed laundry (my first time using the laundry mat was a success), go to the Franprix, and do homework for most of the day.  In the evening, we went as a class to the Paris Opera to see a contemporary Ballet.  Like every other building in France, the Opera building was beautiful.  The ballet was split into three parts.  It was really different in that I had to watch all three parts in a different way.  The first part was just two dancers, but a series of words came down in different patterns so that the interpretation was different with every new order.  It just really had me thinking about what that dance was about, and what the message was suppose to be.  Honestly I still don't think I completely know what was trying to be said, but the fact that I keep thinking about it makes me like it much more than I initially did.  My favorite was probably the last part of the ballet.  To me, it seemed to be the most modern.  The music to this part was the only one that had words, and it was in English so I could actually understand it!  I think it was also the only section whose music was not set in a minor key, so it didn't seem as weird or sad.  While I did not do a lot of thinking or interpretation for that part, it was definitely my favorite to watch in the moment.