Last weekend was the annual event of "Le Printemps du Cinema", lasting from the 20th to the 22nd of March. The event promotes a limited cinema ticket price of 3.50 euros per person at certain participating cinemas. It's national so isn't limited to Paris, but in a city where a usual ticket costs 9 or 10 euros (although I suppose this is the same in London) I wanted to make the most of the offer.
We went to Le Grand Rex in the 2nd arrondissement, a venue famous for its large auditorium which plays host to a number of concerts as well as films, including the likes of Woody Allen's jazz band. But I've got to be straight with you - it was a let down. Our cinema screen was situated in a small, averagely comfortable room and the staff were incredibly unfriendly (I think it was the English accent that did it). A word of warning: if you do decide to go here at some point, avoid the middle-aged server who will tssk at your attemps of French and laugh at your inability to understand his (I suspect purposefully) quietly spoken replies.
Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable evening and we were brave enough to choose the French film Ma Part du Gâteau which served as a tale of class and sexual conflict within our modern times (i.e. the recession). The male protagonist depicts a successful, arrogant banker who flits between his Paris and London offices earning millions a day, and employs a 40 odd year old single mother as a cleaning lady. She in turn struggles to pay her debts and feed her children, following the desolation of her previous company, which it later turns out is due to him and for which he openly mocks her. It was a good film, but extremely difficult to follow without subtitles or any guidance whatsoever.
Speaking of Le Printemps, I'm blissfully happy to tell you that spring has finally arrived in Paris! It is beautiful, it's as though the city is awakening from her deep winter slumber and has been reminded of her own beauty and is thus singing her own praises. Streets and boulevards are more enchanting whilst flooded with sunlight, and the possibility of spending hours in Paris spending little or no money exists again. J'adore ca! Yesterday after school we sat in the small park next to l'eglise St Germain (which is apparently the oldest church in Paris)and ate our home-made lunch.
Today I embarked on another bike ride along the Seine in Le Vesinet. The Seine is about a 10 minute bike ride away from my doorstep, and it is incredibly enchanting. I think I may have told you before but I have to boast again and remind you that Claude Monet sat along the Seine between Croissy and Le Vesinet (the route that I take) whilst painting.
La vie ici est vraiment superbe!
Bonne Soiree
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