Le Dîner en Blanc - The Dinner In White

The coolest thing I've been a part of was the anual flash mob of Dinner In White that takes place at a different and secret location in many cities around the world. On their website, it says, "Le Dîner en Blanc events are held on some of the most prestigious sites of the city, often without authorization. The first editions were not easy to put in place. Today, the authorities know the organisation and know that it’s always well controlled. Moreover, the event’s photogenic quality adds to the city’s image of a modern and stylish city, open to the world."
Somehow I ended up going to the one last night at Le Louvre in Paris, and it was fantastic! It's totally exclusive, and you have to know a guy that knows a guy in order to get in. I really felt clueless and undeserving when I arrived and saw all the fancy smancy people with their feathers and fur. I tried to act like I belonged but really...

So how did this happen? Well, I teach english to an Italian woman here in Paris, and one afternoon when I was at her apartment, she was telling me about the party and what it was. I didn't really understand exactly, so I kept asking her questions about it till she finally asked if I just want to come. So last minute, so random, and not even sure if I was allowed to be there, I got ready for some random party I knew nothing about. Didn't matter though. I wore white, so I belonged I guess.

It was a huge pique-nique and everyone brought their own food and drinks but everything was shared between tables. It didn't matter who you were, food and drinks were passes around. I mainly ate typical French finger foods like cheese and foie gras with French champagne and then some Italian wine. Craziness.

After eating, there were a lot of people dancing, so of course I joined in. I got to meet people around my age which was good because for a while, I thought I was the youngest person there.

I really felt like Jack Dawson in Titanic being invited to a fancy first class dinner. He said, "Just the other night I was sleeping under a bridge and now here I am on the grandest ship in the world having champagne with you fine people." My case might not be that extreem, but it sure was how it felt.

Les Médiévales de Provins

I anticipated this day for months! The Medieval Festival in Provins, France! It took about an hour and a half  by train to get to the city of Provin, so Paige and I left early in the morning. Shortly after, our friend Fany met us there. We sure did get a lot of people staring at us on our way to the train station. Imagine taking the Metro early in the morning wearing these wonderful outfits. Paige got more attention that I did because at least I was dressed like a girl. I guess it's a scandal when a girl is a knight, idk.

  

Our first impression of Provin was that is was soo cute! it had a canal running through the city with a castle on a hill. How perfect! It was very medieval and the perfect place to have a medieval festival! At the festival, there were many booths with medieval style food, super fattening food, costumes and jewelry, and nick-nacks. For sure I looked at everything and found a super awesome necklace to buy for 8 euros!

We were very entertained by all the stuff to see and do there. We climbed up the walls of the castle, did archery, ate wine flavored macarons, danced along with the music all around us, and got pretty freaked by the people in scary costumes.

Toward the end of the festivities, there was a parade with all the people in costumes. They were very lively and interacted with the crowd as they went by. It was so much fun! I wish I could go to a festival like this every weekend. Oh and to make everything better, the weather was perfect all day long. like 70 degrees but no need for sunscreen.

Danse Classique!

I started doing Ballet in Paris about 2 months ago going about once a week. My studio is called Studio Harmonic, and it's close the center of Paris near Bastille. I chose this studio because the people that come to it are adults in all levels of dance. I can also choose the classes I want to take without having a set schedule. 

The first class I took was a Ballet Beginner class. The teacher was good, but It didn't seem like a beginner class. I found out that Beginner really means middle beginner and the easier classes will be "special beginner". It's confusing, but all I'm trying to say is that it was kinda a hard class. She would show us the combinations once and explain it all in French and then expect us to do it. Some people in the class were good, but I was slacking on my first day. After not working out at all for a few months, your dancing will suck suck suck, but it's gotten better now.

After a few more classes and trying out different teachers, I found one I really like. She uses contemporary music and makes the class very fun. She isn't too hard, but it's challenging enough for me, and I really work out while dancing. I'm sore!


My friend Paige came with me to my ballet class and took pictures from outside the room. This was me before class started, and I was "warming up"


Being a Beginner still in Ballet (I've only done it on and off for 3 years), I really appreciate good ballet because I know how hard it is. Last Friday night, My oldest girl had her dance concert that included all the students off all ages at the dance studio. It was a long show because there were so many classes. There were little kid dancers, adult dancers, and bunch of teenager dancers. Most of the dancing was ballet and girls were wearing pointe shoes and everything. The little 6 year olds were better at ballet than me I think. But of course, Apolline was the best dancer. She does Jazz right now. She is the smallest one in the front on the right.

I still find it so weird though that french music wasn't used at all in the dance performances. It's always music in English. French artists wont get as much of a profit if their music is in French I guess. We are familiar with French artists, but they sing in English like David Guetta, Daft Punk, and Pony Pony Run Run. Ignore the band name, they're pretty good. But anyway, at the dance show, on the radio, and in stores, I guess there's no need to worry about explicit lyrics...no one understands the words anyway.