FrenchKate

August 12: Theatre performances c 1635

I came across this drawing of a performance in the theatre du Palais-Royale to be a vivid recreation. It came from an 1893 book.

August 8: Les Précieuses ridicules

Moliére's very popular one-act satire that mocked the salonnières, Les Précieuses ridicules, was presented for the first time on 18 November 1659, at the théâtre du Petit-Bourbon in Paris.

The plot was simple: Magdelon et Cathos, two young women from the provinces, have come to Paris longing for their lives to be gallant and romantic (like the lives of women in the novels of Mlle de Scudéry). Their father/uncle (Gorgibus) had arranged for them to marry two eligible young men, La Grange et Du Croisy, but the young women reject them as too unsophisticated and unrefined. The young men decide to avenge themselves on these picky women. They disguise their servants as the Marquis de Mascarille and the Viscount of Jodelet, and have them woo the young women with extravagance, fine manners and poetry. The imposters even hire musicians for an impromptu ball to win the hearts of Magdelon and Cathos. Then La Grange & Du Croisy burst in, beat their servants and strip them of their finery, and reveal the deception and how foolish the young women were to be taken in. The young women are furious, but their father/uncle blames them for being such precious fools.

In the production, Moliére played the role of the Marquis de Mascarille and Madeline de Béjart--Moliére's business partner and sister-in-law-- played Magdolon. 

Les Précieuses Ridicules was the first of Molière's  satires of French society, a target-rich environment. One target--the affectations of the young women--was hilarious, and a second target--servants imitating masters--was also hilarious to his aristocratic audiences. The set-up allowed Moliére to skewer habits of the privileged, a new form of entertainment. The hilarity gives us insight into the culture. For example, the servant pretending to be the Marquis de Mascarille refuses to pay the porters who carry his sedan chair (since a person of such high status should not be asked for money.) I assume such behavior happened. The fake Marquis and fake Viscount boast of their exploits in war; they show off their battle scars to one another. Such displays were familiar in a society where nobility = warrior. Behavior is also modelled when the real masters (La Grange et Du Croisy) beat their servants for extravagance and insubordination, and the servants must accept the blows. Finally, real men can play cruel tricks on young women, and the young women are blamed. 

 

 

August 7: Cat 1

An English cat at Monk's House, the home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf, on 15 July 2015.

 

August 5: Friday cars

The red 2CV was spotted in Nancy, France, in 2018. The gray 2CV was spotted in Noyers, a plus beau village, on the same trip in 2018. The handsome black and burgundy 2CV was parked in Fontainebleau, France.

This is your Friday reminder than France iis full of whimsy.

Feb 24: Random thoughts on photography

This photo came up on my photo stream yesterday, and both my husband and I were stumped as to when and where it was taken. Though everything about this scene is so French--the classical building on the right, the lawn chairs, the streetlights, the plane trees, the loose gravel surface at our feet, the hint of construction at the rear--it could have been taken almost anywhere in France. Nothing makes it distinctive. There were distinctive things around us, but this particular photo missed them.

By searching, I was able to place the photo; it was taken on September 3rd, 2018, in Auxerre, France. We were standing inside a small place on rue de lycée Jacques Amyot in front of a school.

The second image--a screenshot from google maps--shows the same location from a slightly different angle a year later. Note the very distinctive bell-tower of the Cathedral Saint-Etienne in the distance. My photo managed to miss that completely!

Another distinctive landmark was across the street from us: a stone tower (called Tour des Prison) and crenellated walls constructed in 1320, remnants of the fortifications that once protected the monks of the abbey of Saint Germain.

The photo that was so French and so not distinctive at the same time seems to me to hint at some profound metaphor about not seeing what is right in front of you because the photographer was directing your attention to something else.

 

Feb 14: Happy Valentine's Day

This photo was taken in Troyes on a warm summer's night in August 2018, back in the days when one could travel to France. 

Feb 2: Gargoyles

Over our several trips to Toulouse, I took many photos of the gargoyles lining one corridor of the cloister. I was surprised to find a very similar view on the Musee des Augustins website.

Jan 30: Bruce

Bruce guarded the entrance to a men's clothing shop that I passed daily, and I thought he was the best dog. I wondered what breed he was, and the owner was delighted to tell me, but I don't know French names for most dog breeds, and he didn't know the English names so his heritage remains a mystery, Some kind of terrier, I think, but a real cutie, in any case.

Jan 28: Lunch break

A quick post here as I try to work my way back to a daily schedule. 

Something I find very appealing about the French is how seriously they take mealtimes: an important time for conviviality, social bonding and nourishment.

Tables and chairs are found on streets, in gardens, or, in one image here, in the shade of an old church bay, and places are set. Voila!

Going through my photos tonight, I came across these various examples. I am sure, if I spent more time reviewing photos, I would find many, many more examples.

 

Jan 25, 2022: How wide was rue Tripiére?

Rue Tripiére dates at least to the 15th century, and it typifies the narrow streets of the medieval town. These were streets built for pedestrians.

Our apartment came with a parking space that opened onto rue Tripiére. Each morning my husband would back his car--roughly 15 feet from bumper to bumper--out onto rue Tripiére, and you can see how tight the geometry was. It was stressful enough that eventually, we arranged to have a parking space in the place du Capitol parking ramp, about half a kilometer away. A longer walk, much, much easier maneuvering in and out...and much less stress.