France trip, part un: The Premiere

So I'm going to try to split my posts about this trip into two. It is Friday morning right now, about 27 hours into my trip to Paris. So far it has been a blast.

I left Medag at 6 AM yesterday morning to catch a 9:25 (allegedly) flight out of Ciampino. I left a little early. The way to get to the airport is to ride the subway (using my new monthly Rome public transportation pass, which I got at the discounted rate because the tabacchi guy must have thought I am a Roman. Heh. I am the whitest person alive. He probably doesn't make more money if I pay 30 euro or 18) to the end of the Red line, then take a bus to Ciampino from there. I had no idea how long the metro ride was. It was 32 minutes. I pegged it at 50 minutes before going, so I arrived with plenty of time to spare for the 7:20 bus, which really took off 15 minutes late. Checking in and security at Ciampino was a breeze, but our flight was late. Boarding was fast because people just line up. No assigned seating is kind of cool. Our plane took off about an hour and ten minutes delayed.

Getting into center city Paris from Orly is very easy as well. Less than 30 minutes by metro into the Les Halles station. I had never been into Les Halles, so I had no real idea where I was when I got out. Peg told me to call her when I got there, but my cell phone was acting weird, so I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get in touch with Peg, my parents, or find a policeman to direct me to Peg's appartment. Luckily, about 15 minutes into this, Peg gave me a call. We met up 5 minutes later.

Peg's appartment is great (I am typing there now). Plenty of space for one person, bedroom, kitchenette, couch, plenty of floor space. But the best thing is the location: it is a stones throw from the Musee Pompidou! I love this area. Lots of good food around, my favorite modern art museum; very, VERY well located. Very cool. I walked around the area yesterday for about an hour, just seeing what all there was to see. There was much. I had been in the area a bunch on my previous trip, but a lot of it seemed new anyways.

Last night, we got all dressed up and headed out. Peg looked fabulous in some clothes that she sewed herself. Very cool. I was in my pink bow tie. Anyways, we went to a department store first, so Peg could buy some treats for her coworkers, and then we headed over to the theater. Went backstage, Peg handed out the treats, and then we went to get our tickets. Everyone I saw initially was very dressed up (tuxedos), so I was a bit worried about my jacket and slacks. I ended up not being so bad, though. The younger crowd there and some of the crew were about at my level of dressiness, so that worked out fine.

Both before and after the show there was a big party with a bunch of very stylish people chatting and eating some really high concept finger food (like fois gras and chocolate, among others. Weird stuff). Everyone knew everyone, it seemed, so I was a bit of a fish out of water. Peg did her best to introduce me to a bunch of people.

The play was fantastic, as were our seats. I was across the aisle from Julie Taymor and Tom Schumacher (you will recognize him if you've watched the Oscars a few times. He told me he "hated me" because I was living the dream living in Rome). Bob Iger, the president of Disney, was further down their row. During intermission, I unintentionally followed some people into a VIP party, so we were rubbing shoulders with these people for about 20 minutes.

Like I said, the play was very cool. I know the storyline, so the language barrier was not that big of a deal. It actually allowed me to focus more on the art side of things, and the more you focus on that the more impressive it is. So much detail in so many different ways. Insane. Best. Show. Ever. I'm biased, of course. But, I mean, come on. It's pretty sweet.

After the show Peg and one of her friends and I went to this brassiere (or however you spell it) called the Pig's Foot, which serves all kinds of meats and delicious foods. Peg said it has the best French Onion soup in the world, and despite the fact that I have never had that before, I got it (of course. When in Rome, or Paris, as it may be). It was fantastic. On the downside with the whole food thing, I must note, I have developed a bit of an extra layer around the belly from all the delicious treats I have been eating. I have decided to ignore this to the best of my ability: I'm probably not going to be eating this well this cheaply ever again.