Paris

The second (and final) leg of our tour was to Paris, France.

We struck everything in St. Etienne, stuffed it into the van, and headed up to Paris. Between strike and load in we had one travel day, spent on the TGV, trying hard to sleep on the train as French children made our acquaintances. A seamless reception and pickup met us at the train station in Paris, and everything already looked better, smoother and easier than St. Etienne.


A visit to the space confirmed that everything was well underway, all of our communications had been heeded, and the crew was a jolly and good-natured bunch. Rock.


And then it was load in. Four days of frantic activity, punctuated by typical French meal breaks (although these were only one hour long) of civilized eating and relaxing, topped off with a coffee. We opened on Bastille Day, with a free performance that might have been considered a preview. It was packed, with many appreciative kids giggling at our gags. Shortly before we opened the doors, we learned that we had just sold out our entire run. With no press, no previews, no word of mouth. What? ...Awesome. We were that cool American show.



The run continued to be a smashing success, with huge and appreciative audiences each night. We ran solid shows, socialized with the incredibly-friendly house crew, and perused Paris during our free mornings.


A work day would start around 5pm for a casual preset, getting the million things ready for the start of the show, checking all the equipment and putting everything in its very peculiar place. After a couple hours of prep by the 5 of us, the set would be ready. Then it was actor warmup and fight call, then the familiar pressure of the house crew wanting to open the doors, and us wanting a quiet moment. Finally, we would arrive at an appropriate time to open the doors (maybe 5 minutes before show time... Oops), start the show a few minutes late (the French theater-going audience is not known for their punctuality), run a solid hour-and-a-quarter show, then clean up. We'd be out of there around 10pm every night, then usually head to get dinner. Very Parisien. And we'd be completely free until the next day at 5.



Which left me free for exploration of Paris. I had only visited the city once (see the very first post of this blog for elaboration of that adventure). I had three weeks in the city to better visit and tour and relax. Much better than 20 hours with no accommodations... I kept meaning to find the bush that I slept under. I never did...

I did make it to the Eifel Tower, the Basilica Sacre Coeur, the Louvre, Shakespeare and Co, the Bastille, la Defense, and the Champs-Elysees, among other sites. I became familiar with the extensive subway system, as well as proficient at avoiding getting flattened on its cobblestoned streets, filled with chaotic European traffic (we even rented scooters one day... What were we thinking?!).










All in all, it was an excellent sojourn in France, giving me another taste of the touring lifestyle, as well as another experience living in a foreign country. My French greatly improved, as it was the first time I had used the language outside of the classroom. Paris still has many attractions I didn't get to, so there's always room to go back, but until then, it's full-tilt in any other direction.