Yesterday started out like any normal Saturday. I woke up, ate some breakfast, came back upstairs to be lazy for the rest of the day and I got a text from my neighbor telling me to go on a hike with her to find a castle. Hike? Yes. Castle? Duh. So I put on my tennis shoes and started walking…..and walking…..and walking…..and walking. Four hours later, Alyson, Chase and I finally stumble upon what we’re looking for. A small, all white castle tucked away in the back corner of a park. As you can remember, we went on a castle-exploring hike before. This one was a prettier castle, but a less productive hike because we took the tram back.
However, while on this hike, we had to cross a main highway and on this main highway I saw something I never thought I would see in France—a mall. I was not OK with this. I’ll take the castles, thanks. Leave the malls. After the mall, we saw about eight car dealership in a row—Ford, Lexus, Mercedes, Peugeot, Fiat, and the list goes on. It was very strange to see this in comparison to everything else I’ve seen in France. But, I was satisfied because I got to see another castle and I got to hike.
After our long hike, we and several other IES students left to see a French play for the first time ever. The play was called “Le Jeu de l’amour et du hazard.” The game of love and chance. The play was written by de Marivaux a few hundred years ago and this theatre was doing their own interpretation. Let me just say that the Americans in the back row were quite shocked with what was going on on-stage. After the play, we discussed a little bit about the difference between American and French entertainment. American entertainment, as all you Americans know, has a large industry in violence. It’s pretty normal to see violence in a movie and no one in the audience be phased by it. In France, the same goes for sexuality. I’m not talking about a girl flaunting her curves on the movie screen, I’m talking about sexual acts on stage. While the French were laughing at the sex jokes going on, all of us in the back of the theatre were sitting with our mouths wide open and saying, “Oh my god!”
When Nathalie asked me this morning how it was last night, I had to choke back an, “It was awkward as hell” comment. I explained to her the same thing we talked about last night and she said that sexuality didn’t become so open like that until about the 1960s. Does anyone want to guess why French ideas of sexuality changed? A MANIFESTATION! It seems that women were also protesting here in the sixties for equal rights and all of that jazz, but they were also fighting…for…um…sex? Apparently, after all that, not just women, but sexuality were just a part of everyday life. This is true. Everything from stores to advertisements, to the women on the streets reek of it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen bare-chested women on advertisements at the bus-stops. Bizarre I tell you.
Anyways, speaking of manifestations, I’m sure you all have seen in the news that it’s a pretty big deal right now. The senate has passed a vote for the retirement age to be raised from 60 to 62 and now they’re waiting on a final vote. This is bad news for transportation, schools, shops, restaurants—basically anywhere in France. Many trams and buses aren’t running, planes are being delayed because of the strike and even teachers aren’t showing up to classes to teach. So, after the play, we went out to eat (of course), and by this time it was about ten o’clock. There were STILL people in the road with their signs. And when we left the restaurant at eleven thirty, they were setting up camp. When I say people, I mean seventeen and eighteen-year-olds. We had to wonder if any of them really knew what they were freaking out about. I’m tired of it all. But, this IS France. They have made “manifesting” an art.
One good thing did come after the play—I think I found my favorite Créperie. Mom, you have something to look forward to there!
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