Samedi de Cette Weekend!

(That would be "Saturday of this Weekend!" See, you've learned something today!)
Saturday morning, I woke up around 9:30 pm. Realizing that I had nothing breakfast-wise in the apartment, I walked down to Monoprix, getting a carnet of metro tickets at the Sorbonne tabac along the way. I got pains au chocolat, milk and some pasta. At the cash register, the cashier handed me a little rose on my way out. (I think they were giving them out, because she had a big bucket of them behind her. I don't know what the occasion was.) I'm pretty sure this was my last trip (or near enough) to Monoprix (sniff, sniff).
After that, it was still early. I wanted to go out exploring later, so I did some work. I finished drawing up my croquis, and began coloring them in. Susan had specified that she wanted to see "flat color", so I decided to forgo my usual paints and work in colored pencils, layering to achieve different hues. I went by color, and colored in all areas that were black, red and green. I set a goal for myself to finish all that by 1:30 pm (so that I could have lunch and leave by 2 pm), but I worked a bit overtime, and didn't leave until about 2:20 pm.
I had wanted to see the interior of the Opera Garnier (that would be the old one), and decided to go see that and the Folies Bergere. I took the metro over to Opera Garnier, and it was raining as I got out of the station. I went inside, paid my reduced student rate and immediately went to the grand staircase. Seriously, it's amazing. I remember first seeing an illustration of it in a book we had at home when I was younger. (The book is "Amazing Buildings", and published by Dorling Kindersley-wow, I didn't even have to look that up, I remember it because I've looked at it so many times. It features a lot of different buildings, and has great illustrations of them. Along with the grand staircase of the Opera Garnier, it also has the Alhambra, Taj Mahal, the Colosseum and Krak des Chevaliers. Great book though, especially if you're interested in architecture.) I took a lot of pictures, but because it was a bit dark and a lot of candles were lit, some of them appeared blurry (but maybe that added to the effect). I could easily picture what it must've been like back in the 1800s, with men in suits (were there tuxes back then?) and the women in those sweeping gowns that would put our modern evening wear to shame. I also walked into a couple of the private boxes and took pictures of the performance hall. There was something going on involving a black tarp onstage, so they were probably getting ready for a performance. It wasn't lit too well, but I got some good shots. All of the seats were upholstered in red velvet, and it looked very cool, seeing the entire floor level a sea of that color and fabric. The structure was bronzeish-gold (it was a little hard to tell in the dim lighting) and very detailed. (At the time, I thought that the pictures wouldn't turn out well, but when I downloaded them back at the apartment, they look quite nice, if I do say so myself.) I think my favorite part was the chandelier the center of the ceiling. Not exactly the chandelier, but what was around it. It was in the middle of a round painting. This painting was more like many combined vignettes in different colors. Just by a cursory look at the style, I guessed it to be by Marc Chagall. I checked this fact later, and sure enough, I was correct. (I love guessing artists' work, and being correct about it. I do it pretty often, but I guess I'm constantly surprised by what and how much I actually know.)
I walked around the rest of the floor, but it wasn't nearly as exciting as the performance hall and grand staircase. So I decided to go see the Folies Bergere. The Folies Bergere is a famous dance hall in Paris, especially during the time of the Belle Epoque (1890s-1920s). It was the place where Josephine Baker frequently performed (she was an ex-pat from the 1920s onward, since there weren't many opportunities for her, and that American audiences weren't ready for her style). She also debuted her famous "banana dance" there in 1926, where she only wore a short skirt made from (you guessed it) bananas. (In "The Triplettes of Belleville", one of my favorite movies, if not THE favorite, the opening scene is a cabaret performance, with historical characters making appearances. Josephine Baker appears and performs the banana dance, which is intercut with shots of the men in the audience going wild. I'm not doing this scene justice at all, but it's great. Watch it.) I looked at the map, and found the road I needed to get there. I was confused, since it appeared to be going in the opposite direction but followed it anyway. I ended up going back towards the Grands Magasins (those being Printemps and Galleries Lafayette). I didn't think that was correct, and so checked the map. I was right, and turned around. I then got on the right path, and stayed on it, finding it pretty quickly after that. (It was interesting, but at a few points when I was walking down Rue de Provence/Rue de Richer, I could see the domes of Sacre Coeur rising about the other buildings. I checked my map when I got back, and was able to predict which areas I would've been around for this to occur.) Once there, I took some pictures of the exterior (which was pretty low-key, made of gray stone with an Art-Deco relief sculpture and a few signs proclaiming it to be the "most celebrated dance theater in the world"). I got a millefeuille (literally "a thousand leaves") pastry to eat, and walked to the nearest metro station to go back. It happened to be Bonne Nouvelle, which was right by the Grand Rex (where I had seen the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss concert).
Back at the apartment, I took a nap, ate some dinner and went out to see "No Country for Old Men". I had originally wanted to see it the previous night, but had rescheduled since I had felt way too tired. Wow, was it good. I'm really glad I saw it in theaters.
After that, it was still light out, and I decided to go see the Pantheon's hours of operation (since I was interested in seeing Voltaire's tomb there). Once there, I decided to sit there for a bit and watch the Tour Eiffel light up. (The street that the Pantheon overlooks gives a direct view to the Tour Eiffel.) So I sat and enjoyed the night, while watching the Tour Eiffel steadily light up. (I decided to stay to see it sparkle, and then retire.) Other people were there, doing the same thing or waiting to meet people. There was a group of teens there, and a couple of girls going around talking to everyone. They came up to me, asking if I was waiting for someone, but I said that I just came out to enjoy the night. (That was the second time someone had come up and talked to me that day. The first time was after I was leaving the Opera Garnier, and an older lady came up to me and asked where Galleries Lafayette was.) The Tour Eiffel started sparkling around 10 pm, and sparkled for about 10 minutes, and when it was over, I left for the room.
Tomorrow should be interesting. I'm meeting up with my friend Lauren (whom I haven't seen since 8th grade), who's traveling through Europe for her graduation present. Should be fun...