SHARING WITH ME

The week following my trip to Lyon, I was prancing around like a caged lion. It was totally unreasonable of me to go back for the « Peter Grimes ». On the Thursday, one of my incoming emails gave a write up and critics for the opera. « Amazing » - « Stunning » - « Spectacular » with even more superlatives concerning the production, orchestration and voices - it was just too much for me. I turned for another hour and then said « to hell with it - you’re going ». Something told me that I would never have this opportunity again with a « Mr Ono » production. 

So I went. After having picked up my tickets, I decided a fast trot over to the Contemporary museum which I had not seen the first visit. It was a lot further than I thought    I like the houses in Lyon and the shop windows and when I go there - finally - closed in preparation for the next exhibition in May. So I wandered down to the Parc de la Tête d’or. This was built starting in 1857 and is quite a remarkable place.

The question you could well ask is would I have gone to see « Josephine » alone? The answer is « probably no ». I don’t say « definitely no » as my knowledge of French history is lacking and perhaps I would have gone alone to learn. Going with Marielle was another matter. I talked about the exhibition to a friend today who said that he had been disappointed in the lack of pieces displayed…..on the contrary. I found the setting ideal, spaced out and I was eager to learn. Thanks to Marielle, I did. This exhibition has been put together for the bicentennial of her death and is the first one exclusively dedicated to her in France. Now I discover how much she left in the field of arts, leaving an imprint of femininity on the first military and powerful Europe. I finally got my Napoleons in order too thanks to Marielle and to Josephine. 

I had no idea that she had been born in Martinique in 1763.  Nor that she had married a Viscount Alexandre de Beauharnais at 16. She gave birth to

The following day Craig and I wondered around Lyon. The weather had been divine on the day I arrived - it was not the following day. Thanks to this leisurely stroll, I felt that the Lyon I had known was «still in place » even if  the changes such as the New Opera House or the renovation of the Beaux Arts museum.  C. Dubois and J.M. Wilmotte undertook a complete remodeling of the building. Work was carried out in five phases, from 1990 to 1998, in order to keep the building open to the public. Perhaps it’s a shame that these architects were not the creators of the Opera. They were Jean Nouvel and  Emmanuel Blamont (conception). Jean Nouvel has certainly done some wonderful creations, the Arab World Institute in Paris. As you know, I love modern creations, but the opera house just seems out of place. Especially when you walk by this wonderful Library - (I could have spent hours there).  Craig showing me the way The court house, where Barbie was on trial, is a spectacular

It’s always interesting to see what is going on in the College des Bernadins. Although I have talked about it on two other occasions, here is a little information from their home page:   At the heart of the Latin Quarter in Paris a thirteenth century Cistercian building stands intact: the Collège des Bernardins. Seven and a half centuries after its foundation and four years of restoration , this Christian institution  has returned  to its original purpose: to be a place of knowledge and faith in the heart of the city, and to renew  a dialogue between  Christian wisdom and  society. Open to all those who wonder about the meaning of life and the fate of mankind, the Collège des  Bernardins invites everyone to discuss and exchange ideas, through philosophical reflection, research, training or artistic expression. It offers itself as a space for questioning and building ... to design together the society of today and tomorrow. I have no excuse not to go there. It’s 5 minutes from where