Madonna Concert at Stade de France

Last Sunday I went to Stade de France to see my first Madonna concert. I had researched thoroughly before I left and found that the stadium had a roof. Hence I made a decision to leave the big sweater at home and wear a summer trench coat. Big mistake. The roof was nowhere to be seen. While most people were very entertained by the opening act, which was Bob Sinclair, I was busy freezing to death! I thought it was an extremely boring DJ set, but apparently it counted for a lot that he is french. He had a huge black guy from New York singing (didn’t catch his name). I spent most of the time wondering why people would get sick if they saw a women that obese bouncing her body up and down on the stage, while it is perfectly alright and cool to be obese when you are a gangster-looking hardass guy from New York. Hypocrisy. When was the last time I heard a guy (my boyfriend) say that women are forcing the beauty ideal on themselves and that that they’re skinny mainly to compete with other women. Not true. Don’t tell me the guys would have thought it was cool if they had placed a giant mama on the stage instead of this guy.

Luckily my misery ended as soon as Madonna began her show. And it really was a show just as much as it was a concert. Though I was prepared for that I was still surprised at how much of a show it was. And the surprise was a pleasant one. Her body and her endurance is unbelivable. I want that kind of physique as well! Though I practice yoga I guess I would have to radically increase the time I spend on it to look like that. As well as doing other sorts of exercise, not to mention never eat potato chips again. Then again it’s not just about looks and I guess I must qualify as a good yogi being allmost-vegan. I just want to be fitter, happier, more productive, like everyone else, especially Radiohead in the nineties ;-) That will do for me. But still it’s hard not to get impressed by her looks, she is afterall almost twice my age!

She began the concert with the track Candy Shop. Also in the beginning part of the show she did a ropeskipping act which was just amazing. I really liked that part. My one objection to the show is the video material she has made where she likens McCain to Hitler and Obama to Martin Luther King, Ghandi and Mother Theresa. A coworker of mine expressed it very well when she said that it is taking the audience hostage; you force your own political persuasion on them. And I was there for the music not participate in a political rally. But I’ll live with it since it was, in my opinion, the only flaw in the show. Apart from the lousy opening act, which I had fortunately forgotten as soon as the real show began. Another very impressive thing were the costume changes and how she managed to do a lot of them while on stage. All in all, she is definetely a VIP – a very impressive person. The show ended with my favorite from the new album: Give it 2 me. I had timed it perfectly, moving towards the exit and being able to see the completion of the show from above the stairs, not missing anything and still able to get ahead of all the other people instead of having to compete to much for a place on the train back to the city.

My conclusion: a great show. I would definetely want to go and see another one as soon as I get the chance!

Technoparade

This afternoon / evening is an inferno of noise. The technoparade has invaded my once quiet neighbourhood (well, most of the time it is)! The windows are just about to break I think! All the gays of the neighboorhood are having a field day, especially this guy:

Notice the (desired!) size of his private parts. Most of the crowd, however are dressed quite normally, and a bit boring. Unlike in Berlin for the Love Parade where most people show up in some kind crazy costume or at least in clubbing outfit. I fitted in perfectly here with all the people dressed absolutely normal! The police however look like something taken out of the future, totally combat outfit. They look like they are preparing for interstellar war or something!

As I said my neighboorhood has been transformed. Sometimes there is a small crowd of youg people in the street speaking very loudly until three o’clock in the morning. But right now hundreds are hanging out here. I hope they will go home early today or follow the party to where it’s destined to be until 6 o’clock tomorrow morning (which is luckily not here!).

Louvre: Objets d'Art Mesopotamia

This morning I visited the Louvre and for the first 30 minutes I had the entire section on objets d’art from Mesopotamia all to myself. Actually the Louvre is usually only crowded if you keep to the most known sections. My impression of this section was very mixed. On the one hand there were amazing objects like the one in the picture above. On the other there is a lot of small objects that I don't find very interesting. At least not in the amount that they're there - such as jewellery, small figures etc. I would recommend going through this section very selectively. But definitely don't skip it if you have time for multiple visits to the Louvre.

Actually the visit made me think about how many things from ancient times are preserved for the future. In our buy-and-discard society I guess not much will be preserved for future generations to appreciate. I think it will be hard in the future to facilitate the same kind of look into the past that we have the opportunity for now.

After todays visit I went shopping. Actually I went to shop for work clothes, but instead I found a nice and comfy green sweater, so I will have to go shopping for work clothes another time. I found it in the ground floor in Bazar Hôtel de Ville (BHV), which is actually not my favorite place for clothes shopping, but still sometimes you stumble upon something great. But the section with women's clothing is not very well ordered, but it’s so easy to pop in there after a visit to the Louvre or after work since it’s just two metro stops before my appartment. I also finally found a nice time planner, which is essential, as I have to write down my meetings for work, since I sometimes have to go directly to a meeting in the OECD instead of going to my office at the Danish Embassy in the morning. One more thing to tick of the list. When you move abroad you find that there are always lots of things you need and that you don’t have, which means you spend a ridiculously large amount of money. In Berlin I had the advantage of everything being much cheaper then in Denmark, but here in Paris it’s about the same price level. Except for the rent which is much more expensive!

In the book section of BHV I found the Petit Prince in french. I have never read it before and I guess my french level will allow me to be able to understand most of it. I also couldn’t resist buying Rosseaus Du Contrat Social. Now that will be a bit more of challenge, but then again I know the book, so I guess it will not be completely impossible. After all I thrive on challenges!

Hommage a Pavarotti

Yesterday evening I attended the tribute concert to celebrate Luciano Pavarotti’s amazing career a year after he died. The concert was in the Domaine National St. Cloud, a very nice venue in a Parisian suburb in a small forrest-like enclosure. Hence it was not the setting, which disappointed me. But the concert did. But maybe that's what you can expect when you pay only five euro.

First of all lots of people were only there to see Laura Pausini sing and not to pay tribute to Pavarotti. And second; I think it’s a sad tendency in this society that music has become reduced to Popstars-American Idol-type things. The winner of the newest edition of Nouvelle Star (which is like American Idol, just in France) appeared singing U2’s One. And if you sing One with a 70 men strong orchestra without giving me goosebumbs, then you’re not very good.

There were however great singers present; Florent Pagny did a really good job as did Roberto Alagna and Patrick Bruel. However it never really brought the concert to a higher level, because of the never ending intermissions where two hosts talked endlessly about Pavarotti and his life. I get that this is a hommage, but it never really worked. I guess the problem was, that it was being recorded for broadcasting on TV next Sunday and the production was designed for TV, not for being a good live event. But I wasn’t there to be an extra in their television production.

The duet with Laura Pausini and Garou singing Volare was actually tres sexy, and I totally get that it’s also a celebration, but bringing in the newest reality show winner was just too stupid. If you want to capture my attention for 2 hours and 45 minutes, while I’m standing up (and you’re not Depeche Mode) you really have to deliver, and deliver more than this! I may be elitist but people talking during a (primarily) classical concert just doesn't cut it for me. And what's with the singing along? You're not Pavarotti so just drop it! I would rather have put the five euro towards a ticket for the opera house.

Benedict XVI Mass in Paris

Yesterday morning I experienced my first papal mass, in Paris. Pope Benedict (or in french: Benoit) arrived in Paris on Friday and he is still here in France, today visiting Lourdes – a pilgrimage destination – where he drank the water from a spring that appeared from the ground 150 years ago when a local girl, named Bernadette Soubirous repeatedly had visions of the Virgin Mary. Though a papal mass is a bit beyond my french level it was still very interesting and I did get some of it.

He talked about the modern world and asked if we have not created our own idols in the modern world, which imitates the pagans of antiquity. He asked if money, the thirst for possesions, knowledge and power had not diverted man from his true destiny. This was also a major theme for his predecessor John Paul II, who worried that consumerism was turning into a kind of religion. Religious or not I think it’s important to reflect on the importance of material possessions and if they should be as important as they are to most people. More than 250.000 people attended the mass.

Later on Saturday Benedict XVI travelled to Lourdes as more than five million pilgrims do every year. Many of them hoping that drinking the water of the spring will cure them of their disease. The church has officially recognised 67 miracles linked to Lourdes.

Benedict told the pilgrims that by following in Bernadette’s footsteps they enter into an extraordinary closeness between heaven and earth. He likened the link between the heavenly and the terristial to a luminous path that opens up in human history even in its darkest moments. He referred to violence, war, terrorism and famine among the problems of man. Today, Sunday morning, the papal mass from Lourdes is being televised on France 2.

Patricia and Pompidou

Today I finally got to met up with my German friend, Patricia. We meet at the Pompidou Center, where a lot of people were suddenly seeking refuge from a really heavy rain. The exhibition areas were however not at all crowded. More the contrary actually. Most of the art works here are very modern and not at all to my taste, but I did like the room that I have photographed and placed here. But that was also because of the music that was played here, which gave a sense of tranquility.

I like the building very much, though I’m not a fan of most of the art works. The building is very original and extraordinary. It’s actually very visible from the Eiffel Tower because it’s so different. And when you get a closer to it it’s even more special with “outside” escalators, which are really fun to ride up and down. Worth a visit even if only for the view from the escalators! We got to see a really beautiful dark sky with lots of rainclouds.

Fête de Pyrotechnique

Today was the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the La Defense business area in Paris. This was celebrated with a fireworks show. I meet with Isabelle after work and we went out to dinner with two Japanese girls; Kamuy and Yuko. We had a really lovely dinner at the Indiana Café at the Place de Clichy. I can really recommend the Chicken Curry at this place! Then we went to La Defense with the metro to see the show. It's very difficult to take pictures of this, but it makes you get the idea of how it was. Really impressive and beautiful with the Grande Arc, a modern Arc de Triomphe as the background.

First day at work

Started my internship today at the Danish Delegation to the OECD. I will primarily be working with OECD’s Development Assistance Comitee. The person whom I will be assistant to also had his first working day today, so it was a bit crazy! Plus I don’t have a password yet, so had to work all day without a computer, which really isn’t easy for a computer / internet junkie like myself! I think it will be great though once I settle in a bit! I have a great office mate – the intern, who works with financial issues related to the OECD and I think he will be a great help in the beginning. He has been here a week already and hence is very experienced in comparison with me ;-)

After work we got to the more glamorous part of working right next to the Arc de Triomphe. After dinner drinks in a side street to the Champs Elysees. All of us interns went. Very interesting people all of them.

I look forward to really get started with the work assignments, as well as I look forward to – hopefully – become access to my computer tomorrow!

Peter Doigt exhibition

Today I enjoyed a leisurely lunch at Le Perroquet, the restaurant of the Casino de Paris, with my new French friend Isabelle. The prix fixe menu is very reasonably priced at 20 euro for three courses. You have two options to choose from for each course. I had the artichoke for starter, fried chicken with polenta and to finish a duo crème brulee; a traditional crème brulee and one with strawberrys mixed in it. This was actually much better than I had thought it would be.

After our lovely lunch we went to the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris to see a temporary exhibition of the works of the British artist Peter Doigt. Above I have placed a picture of one of his paintings. He uses a lot of nice color combos and I like much of his work, but I found the paintings with a monochromatic color scheme a bit boring. On the other hand, what I especially like is when he paints the sky. He captures lots of different blue colors and the way he paints the stars in the sky is very nice. I would recommend anyone who has an aversion against modern art to review his work, since its very rich with ideas and symbols.

Le triomphe de l'amour

This is the little treasure that I found today in the section with Flemish paintings in the Louvre. Usually I am not a great fan of Flemish painting from this epoche, but this one is an exception. That’s why it pays off to challenge yourself to also visit collections and sections that you think you'll not like. Some times you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

I think this would be the way it looks if small children go to heaven. They are transported to heaven by huge white birds and angels that are protecting them on a path of beauty, only to find an even more wonderful place at the end of the path. The picture is “Le Triomphe de l’Amour by Domenico Zampiera and Daniel Seghers. Believed to have been painted between 1625 – 1632.

Doing Paris in a weekend

Okay, doing Paris in one long weekend. That’s from Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. The weekend visit of my brother Johnny was an intensive tour of the highlights of Paris. The things you have to see when you’ve never visited before. Or at least as many of them as we could manage! We started out in the late afternoon on Thursday by climbing the stairs to the top of the Arc de Triomphe to enjoy the view.

On the way to the Arc de Triomphe I pointed towards the Eiffel tower and he didn’t believe I was right. And honestly, it’s not that spectacular until you can see the entire tower. The Arc de Triomphe however was really beautiful and the views were great since the weather was very nice. Afterwards we walked up and down the Champs Elysees, where Johnny managed to buy two pairs of shoes – a task that is usually near-impossible! This happened in the Nike shop, where the sales assistant actually spoke a perfectly good english, so I was happy that I didn’t have to translate! Afterwards we browsed the different sections of the Virgin Mega store, which is open until midnight. There is really nice atmosphere in the store, with lots of people sitting around on the floor and the stairs reading manga. As booklovers we’ve got to love such a place!

On Friday we got immediate access to the Louvre with tickets purchased the day before from the FNAC store. I had actually purchased an annual pass for the Louvre, but it hadn’t arrived, and still hasn’t. Damn the french post service. I got an email the other day that they had received the card back with the message that I don’t live here. But to see the positive in everything it gave me the chance to compose my first email in French. And now I am hoping it will arrive this time!

We spent just under 4½ hours browsing the collections. As everyone else we began our discovery by storming towards Mona Lisa, to get her over with so we could proceed to new and unknown territory. At lunchtime we grabbed lasagne at the terrace in the museum, which had a really nice view of the Pyramid in the courtyard. In fact it is possible to sit on this terrace with one of the most pleasant views in the city (so far, anyway!) and have a nice lunch at about 17 euros per person. Quite reasonably priced I would say. Afterwards we had gotten the strenght to visit Napoleons appartments at the Louvre. Quite different from browsing the artworks, but a nice completion of the visit.

After that it was time to head for the Tuilleries and enjoy a crepe and experience the atmosphere at the Fête du Tuillerie, which is basically a temporary version of an amusement park in the middle of Paris. Then we approached the Place de la Concorde from where we took the metro to Ecole Militaire in order to walk through the Champs de Mars and on to the Eiffel Tower. Johnny insisted that we should walk the stairs and I gave in even though I am not great with heigths. But it is absolutely manageable, since the stairs are wide and you can’t see the ground beneath you through the stairs – something I had feared.

We spent about 3½ hours in the tower. W walked up to the first plateau and enjoyed some pastry there in this really nice outdoor café with great views of the Champs de Mars. I can really recommend making a stop here. And you can allways tell yourself that you really deserve to indulge in the pastry since you’ll need energy anyway to clim the rest of the stairs!

After our lovely break we took the stairs to the second plateau, where you have to stand in line to buy another ticket for going to the third section with the elevator. And you have to stand in line for the elevators also, but with 15 minutes for buying the ticket and 20 minutes in line for the elevators it wasn’t that bad. On the ground waiting was by the way exactly one hour.

Saturday we walked around in Montmartre and visited the Sacre Cæur, which is totally taken over by tourist. It is beautiful though. My advice is to visit the dome and the crypt as well. This way you’ll get a more serene experience. The crypt is almost another church under the real one. Very impressive! It’s a lot of steps to reach the dome and the stairs are narrow, but there is one stair for ascending and one for descending so you wont have to meet anyone on your way and it’s worth the trek up here.

Since Montmarte is located on a hill you have a really great view from the city. Other must visit places in Montmarte include the Place du Tertre, which is where the artists still sit and paint people. Being totally overcrowded it has however lost some of the atmosphere that it’s supposed to have had. In advance we had decided to visit the Espace Dalí Montmartre, which houses 300 of his works. We did not spend more than 45 minutes in here, since the exhibition was, in our opinion, a bit uninspired.

We spent the last part of Saturday afternoon in the Jardin du Luxembourg were we watched people play chess and tennis. Aside from all the activities which take place in the parc (including mule treks for kids!) it’s a really beautiful and tranquil parc perfect for sitting down with a good book (see above picture).

We had decided to devote Sunday morning to the Picasso museum. Partly because it was convenient for us, being in the Marais area, where I live, and partly out of sheer interest. I would however recommend against the Picasso Museum and the Espace Dalí for such a short visit to Paris, unless you have a special interest, which we did. Both artists are better represented in Spain and if you want to watch their work for the first time I recommend visiting the Picasso Museum in Barcelona and the Dalí museum in Figueres, a two hour trainride north of Barcelona. Both museums are indeed much more interesting than those here. In the Picasso museum in Paris I missed his drawings, especially the erotic ones, some of which are really funny. In the Dalí museum I missed the (big) paintings. Chances are you will be a bit disappointed if you have seen their work in Spain, but of course it’s still interesting, since you’ll get a more complete impression of their work!

After this weekend we were exhausted and needed another weekend right away. Johnny had a bit more luck than I in this department, since his vacation is almost never-ending this year. Until the 15th of September when he begins college in the United States. For me it was back to school on Monday morning!


Curious fact: In France you can buy chips with bolognaise flavour and roasted chicken with thyme flavour! I bought the first by mistake one day (not reading the label, assuming the color meant a certain type like at home) and it wasn’t that bad actually!