Today's tasks: Take Jack to the vet for his meds and airline checkup, close up the apartment, and run all those last-minute errands that pop up. Ugh. Y'know: mail, dry cleaner, prescriptions, etc.
What I'll do on Day 11 & 12: ride out to Versailles for an evening of Handel opera and an afternoon of royal garden palaces.
Already running: setting up last meeting, calling London for theatre tickets, editing the manuscript. Must run!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Day 2: Friends & Family
Today's task is to clean out refrigerator, see local friends in Memorial Day party, check in with family and Super Shuttle, and clear the decks. Continue cleaning, continue pre-packing, continue class preparation.
Today's discussion: Cooking in Paris. Cooking in Paris is a delight because the markets are filled with fresh vegetables and dairy. And summertime is the Super Food Time. Now that there is organic, or bio, everything is even better. The supermarkets are much better than they used to be in competition, but the fresh markets this time of year serve up everything a cook needs for soups, salads, and simple main courses, without much preparation or fuss necessary. In fact, with the purchase of some yogurt, eggs and cheese, some vinegar, olive oil and fresh butter alongside the fruits and vegetables and one roasted chicken from the market, I'm ready to go. And everything in France has 200% the flavor of what you can buy in the US. I eat less and it tastes better. No sugar/fructose corn syrup in everything, no processing, no hidden fat.
What I'll do on Day 10: Back to archives.
Today's discussion: Cooking in Paris. Cooking in Paris is a delight because the markets are filled with fresh vegetables and dairy. And summertime is the Super Food Time. Now that there is organic, or bio, everything is even better. The supermarkets are much better than they used to be in competition, but the fresh markets this time of year serve up everything a cook needs for soups, salads, and simple main courses, without much preparation or fuss necessary. In fact, with the purchase of some yogurt, eggs and cheese, some vinegar, olive oil and fresh butter alongside the fruits and vegetables and one roasted chicken from the market, I'm ready to go. And everything in France has 200% the flavor of what you can buy in the US. I eat less and it tastes better. No sugar/fructose corn syrup in everything, no processing, no hidden fat.
What I'll do on Day 10: Back to archives.
Day 3: Cleaning, washing, and packing
Today's task is starting the top-to-bottom cleaning of the apartment prior to leaving for nine weeks. Ugh. I mean, hurray!
Today's discussion is exhibits in London. Yes, I'm buying tickets to London exhibits and programs as well. On my one night off, should I see a string quintet at St. Martin in the Field doing a predictable program of Baroque favorites (Vivaldi, Handel, Purcell, Pachobel) in what will undoubtedly be a fine concert and cheap, or get a ticket to Long Day's Journey into Night, the summer tourist version with David Suchet and Laurie Metcalf, 3 hours of O'Neill suffering? Should I plan a loooong day at the Victoria and Albert with lunch in the Morris Room (a favorite and always delightful) or branch out to 2 new, small museums? Ah, questions, questions.
What I'll do on Day 9: Well, we're back to the Sunday market at Richard Lenoir. Probably followed by some Tuileries action. I love to spend Sunday afternoon in the Tuileries with a book and some picnic items. A little walk through the allees, a sit by the pool to read and people-watch makes a perfect afternoon, unless it's raining.
It's also a great time to figure out the plan for the coming week, what I'll focus on in which archives. Or just walk a new arrondissement.
Posted late!
Today's discussion is exhibits in London. Yes, I'm buying tickets to London exhibits and programs as well. On my one night off, should I see a string quintet at St. Martin in the Field doing a predictable program of Baroque favorites (Vivaldi, Handel, Purcell, Pachobel) in what will undoubtedly be a fine concert and cheap, or get a ticket to Long Day's Journey into Night, the summer tourist version with David Suchet and Laurie Metcalf, 3 hours of O'Neill suffering? Should I plan a loooong day at the Victoria and Albert with lunch in the Morris Room (a favorite and always delightful) or branch out to 2 new, small museums? Ah, questions, questions.
What I'll do on Day 9: Well, we're back to the Sunday market at Richard Lenoir. Probably followed by some Tuileries action. I love to spend Sunday afternoon in the Tuileries with a book and some picnic items. A little walk through the allees, a sit by the pool to read and people-watch makes a perfect afternoon, unless it's raining.
It's also a great time to figure out the plan for the coming week, what I'll focus on in which archives. Or just walk a new arrondissement.
Posted late!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Day 4: Errands and Printing
Today's tasks include printing out more items (I ran out of ink at home, so have to go to the office), picking up books at the office, and picking up dry cleaning. Also: laying out what I plan to pack and editing. Ferociously.
Today's discussion has to be Versailles and the Handel festival this summer. I plan to buy a ticket to one of the Handel operas being performed in Versaille's opera theatre, and then spend the following day visiting the Trianons and Marie Antoinette's ferme. Two days, with an overnight in a hotel in Versailles.
Why? Never seen an opera at Versailles. Never visited the ferme or the Trianons. Been inside the papalce multiple times... I can forego another visit, but this seems the right moment to make the rest happen. Did it, got it... ticket to Alcina by Handel (in the gods!), hotel room, ticket to gardens for the following day--Done!
What I'll do on Day 7 & 8: go back to the archives. The whole thing about working in the archives is that I have figured out that working no more than four hours is the smart move; any more time than that working ina second and my brain becomes mush. I have a translation project on hand for the down time, so I can certainly find things to do outside of the necessary research: translate the play, finish/edit/submit the second novel, write the paper I'll be giving in Exeter, prepare my Oxford course. LOTS to do... not including visitng cafes, museums, monuments, and shopping.
Today's discussion has to be Versailles and the Handel festival this summer. I plan to buy a ticket to one of the Handel operas being performed in Versaille's opera theatre, and then spend the following day visiting the Trianons and Marie Antoinette's ferme. Two days, with an overnight in a hotel in Versailles.
Why? Never seen an opera at Versailles. Never visited the ferme or the Trianons. Been inside the papalce multiple times... I can forego another visit, but this seems the right moment to make the rest happen. Did it, got it... ticket to Alcina by Handel (in the gods!), hotel room, ticket to gardens for the following day--Done!
What I'll do on Day 7 & 8: go back to the archives. The whole thing about working in the archives is that I have figured out that working no more than four hours is the smart move; any more time than that working ina second and my brain becomes mush. I have a translation project on hand for the down time, so I can certainly find things to do outside of the necessary research: translate the play, finish/edit/submit the second novel, write the paper I'll be giving in Exeter, prepare my Oxford course. LOTS to do... not including visitng cafes, museums, monuments, and shopping.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Day 5: Getting out of the House
Today's tasks: Visits to the dry cleaners, to return clothes I bought (wrongly!), to buy a recording of The Pirates of Penzance, and to pick up my prescriptions for the summer.
Today's discussion: Riding the Metro. Nothing simpler--especially now that they have machines in all stations. One can buy a carnet (10 tickets in a bundle) so easily it is ridiculous. The Metro is a great invention and a great practical way to see Paris on a different level.
It goes everywhere.
You see people from all classes, areas, walks of life.
It is relatively safe and easy to negotiate.
It is terrifically urban and modern and Paris, once you think about it. Especially the stations in the 18th, in Montmartre, which is where we are. It is, in its own way, historical and 19th-century, rather than contemporary and 21st century. After all, by now shouldn't we have invented something better than trains underground? Like personal jet-packs or flying cars or molecular transportation rays? The Metro is rather linked to the heyday of Paris culture prior to WWI...
But I do love it, in fact, because in Paris people read on the subway. Newspapers, books. Most people aren't pecking along on a phone or iPad but reading. Using 15th-century technology, in fact. Wow. How do they still exist as a country?
What I'll do on Day 6: Go to the Centre Pompidou and see the exhibit on Henri Matisse. I have tickets for the show already (bought online earlier this week). I'll also probably check out their bookstore (where I first saw postcards of the works of Gerhard Richter--bliss!) because I cannot resist a bookstore.
I am a bookstore 'ho'. Not even ashamed of it.
Today's discussion: Riding the Metro. Nothing simpler--especially now that they have machines in all stations. One can buy a carnet (10 tickets in a bundle) so easily it is ridiculous. The Metro is a great invention and a great practical way to see Paris on a different level.
It goes everywhere.
You see people from all classes, areas, walks of life.
It is relatively safe and easy to negotiate.
It is terrifically urban and modern and Paris, once you think about it. Especially the stations in the 18th, in Montmartre, which is where we are. It is, in its own way, historical and 19th-century, rather than contemporary and 21st century. After all, by now shouldn't we have invented something better than trains underground? Like personal jet-packs or flying cars or molecular transportation rays? The Metro is rather linked to the heyday of Paris culture prior to WWI...
But I do love it, in fact, because in Paris people read on the subway. Newspapers, books. Most people aren't pecking along on a phone or iPad but reading. Using 15th-century technology, in fact. Wow. How do they still exist as a country?
What I'll do on Day 6: Go to the Centre Pompidou and see the exhibit on Henri Matisse. I have tickets for the show already (bought online earlier this week). I'll also probably check out their bookstore (where I first saw postcards of the works of Gerhard Richter--bliss!) because I cannot resist a bookstore.
I am a bookstore 'ho'. Not even ashamed of it.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Day 6: Powers That Be
Today's task involves letting everyone who should know, know that I am "leaving town."
Today's discussion involves guidebooks for Paris. Not the kind you buy here, but the ones I buy there. Or have bought there, and carry with me everyday.
Pariscope: This is a cheap little weekly magazine that lists all the plays, all the exhibits, all the movies, all the places to eat and see and go and their times/locations/access points. Something like .35euros per issue, it can be read with basic French and is more portable than any website. To be bought at any newsstand.
Paris Classique, L'Indispensable: THE book of arrondissement maps, plus Metro map, plus bus routes, plus suburbs, plus RER. Plus everything else you've always wanted to know about how to get around in Paris. Cheap ones can be bought at any newsstand and are great for a two-week trip. For the long haul, however, I have a red plastic-covered version the size of a 3x5 card and 2/3" thick. I am never lost in Paris because I can always find anything in this book. This is my second; the first one busted after twelve year's worth of hard usage. I also have a cheap newsstand version that I loan out to students planning a trip. Yes, it's in French too, but you can figure it out.
What I'll do on Day 4 & 5: get up and go to the archives. Start re-familiarizing myelf with the process of entering Tolbiac, getting the materials I need, working for several hours, eating lunch in a little break room... and then heading out to end the day, knackered from working in a second language for several hours. Oh, and I'll probably buy myself some pencils: the pencils from the BnF bookshops are one of my favorite things.
It's not all glamour, toots.
Today's discussion involves guidebooks for Paris. Not the kind you buy here, but the ones I buy there. Or have bought there, and carry with me everyday.
Pariscope: This is a cheap little weekly magazine that lists all the plays, all the exhibits, all the movies, all the places to eat and see and go and their times/locations/access points. Something like .35euros per issue, it can be read with basic French and is more portable than any website. To be bought at any newsstand.
Paris Classique, L'Indispensable: THE book of arrondissement maps, plus Metro map, plus bus routes, plus suburbs, plus RER. Plus everything else you've always wanted to know about how to get around in Paris. Cheap ones can be bought at any newsstand and are great for a two-week trip. For the long haul, however, I have a red plastic-covered version the size of a 3x5 card and 2/3" thick. I am never lost in Paris because I can always find anything in this book. This is my second; the first one busted after twelve year's worth of hard usage. I also have a cheap newsstand version that I loan out to students planning a trip. Yes, it's in French too, but you can figure it out.
What I'll do on Day 4 & 5: get up and go to the archives. Start re-familiarizing myelf with the process of entering Tolbiac, getting the materials I need, working for several hours, eating lunch in a little break room... and then heading out to end the day, knackered from working in a second language for several hours. Oh, and I'll probably buy myself some pencils: the pencils from the BnF bookshops are one of my favorite things.
It's not all glamour, toots.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Day 7: Prepping my class
Got the tickets bought and either printed out (Paris exhibits) or waiting in Will Call (London tours and show). Huzzah!
Today's Task: outlining the Oxford course and prepping the syllabus. I've taught this course 5 times already, but this time I changed the list of plays, slightly. I've got to organize a day-by-day approach, including my Week #1 absence (for Exeter) and our Week #3 London trip.
I've also decided to provide handouts for each day-trip with information relative to our course and pictures/tasks to do. Something for them to think about.
I will also be emailing my students and introducing myself, while giving them tasks to do prior to arrival in Oxford. Good thinking: get them intrigued and involved ahead of time.
Discussion, Paris: Bibliotheque Nationale de France. The group of archives where I work, from Tolbiac to Arsenal to the archives in the Opera Garnier. I'll be spending time at Tolbiac and Arsenal during this visit, putting in more work on both the paper for Exeter, the entries for Cambridge, and my own work on French actresses. I rarely work at Richelieu any longer, because the theatre collections isn't here any longer, but it is probably my favorite of the spaces. I have fond memories of the lines, the bureaucracy, the twisted hunt for information... Tolbiac is so organized and polite after the snotty labyrinth of the old reading room. Like the difference between the airport in Frankfurt and Hogwarts.
What I'll do on Day #3 in Paris: Get my BnF card on Rue de Richelieu.
So much easier in the New World of the BnF than it was in 1996 when I first stepped up to the office, my papers clutched in my hand. Need the card to get access on-line and in person to the collections. For old time's sake I'll have a cup of machine coffee in the BnF lobby--literally, some of the best machine coffee, no coffee, I've ever had and cheap. Ridiculous secret! And you don't need to be a BnF member to enjoy it, but I shouldn't be spreading the secret. I'll also check to see what changes they've made to the old building: they were in the middle of a huge backside re-do in 2010, when I was there last.
In that neighborhood, I can also visit the Comedie Francaise and one of my favorite cafes on Place Colette, the Palais Royal gardens, or the Opera Garnier, one of my favorite cafes on l'Avenue de l'Opera, and possibly stroll in the Caillebotte exhibition area, on Bd. Haussmann.
Today's Task: outlining the Oxford course and prepping the syllabus. I've taught this course 5 times already, but this time I changed the list of plays, slightly. I've got to organize a day-by-day approach, including my Week #1 absence (for Exeter) and our Week #3 London trip.
I've also decided to provide handouts for each day-trip with information relative to our course and pictures/tasks to do. Something for them to think about.
I will also be emailing my students and introducing myself, while giving them tasks to do prior to arrival in Oxford. Good thinking: get them intrigued and involved ahead of time.
Discussion, Paris: Bibliotheque Nationale de France. The group of archives where I work, from Tolbiac to Arsenal to the archives in the Opera Garnier. I'll be spending time at Tolbiac and Arsenal during this visit, putting in more work on both the paper for Exeter, the entries for Cambridge, and my own work on French actresses. I rarely work at Richelieu any longer, because the theatre collections isn't here any longer, but it is probably my favorite of the spaces. I have fond memories of the lines, the bureaucracy, the twisted hunt for information... Tolbiac is so organized and polite after the snotty labyrinth of the old reading room. Like the difference between the airport in Frankfurt and Hogwarts.
What I'll do on Day #3 in Paris: Get my BnF card on Rue de Richelieu.
So much easier in the New World of the BnF than it was in 1996 when I first stepped up to the office, my papers clutched in my hand. Need the card to get access on-line and in person to the collections. For old time's sake I'll have a cup of machine coffee in the BnF lobby--literally, some of the best machine coffee, no coffee, I've ever had and cheap. Ridiculous secret! And you don't need to be a BnF member to enjoy it, but I shouldn't be spreading the secret. I'll also check to see what changes they've made to the old building: they were in the middle of a huge backside re-do in 2010, when I was there last.
In that neighborhood, I can also visit the Comedie Francaise and one of my favorite cafes on Place Colette, the Palais Royal gardens, or the Opera Garnier, one of my favorite cafes on l'Avenue de l'Opera, and possibly stroll in the Caillebotte exhibition area, on Bd. Haussmann.
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