LES SOLDES! and theater.

After well-nourishing myself for breakfast, including fresh fruit from the market this morning, I grabbed my hat, gloves, sweater and coat and headed off to centre ville and the maze of stores found there. This morning, I noticed that my toes hurt. They've hurt a few other mornings, too, and I always thought it was strange that they hurt in the morning but never at night! And it hit me. Here, in these shoes, my toes quickly get frozen when I'm outside and don't thoroughly thaw out for a while. My shoes are pretty good and comfortable, but just where the seam is on my socks I have slight blisters on several of my toes. NOOO! I had said from the beginning that I would think about getting another pair here because I only have 2 pairs of close-toed shoes at home, and one really isn't good for walking much. This is mind, a shoe store was my first stop this morning. Lots of interesting looking things, tried a couple on, but not *that* comfy and nothing quite what I was thinking.

I continued on, finding several cute items at different stores. It's difficult to shop for a warm climate when it is COLD outside and there are so many cute sweaters on sale. But I forced myself to look for things that would work in Austin. I got 3 things at one store that I didn't like that much before, and nothing at two that I used to really like. Either the stores have changed, or my tastes have. I vote it's them. I actually got a cute short-sleeve shirt from my "make other women jealous" store. It's very tame for being from there, which means I can really wear it. I had fun wandering in and out of stores along one street, moving from one center of heat to the next. I didn't put on my hat and gloves even, just kept them in my coat pockets. After finding a funky t-shirt that I absolutely needed at one store, I came out and realized that I'd gone through all the stores on that end. (Don't worry, there were plenty where I didn't buy anything, I won't start begging for spare change on my return.) I turned and started to walk back. And remembered how cold it is out. Left pocket, grabbed hat, put it snugly on my head. Right pocket, grabbed - ANGRY![insert your favorite expletive here]! - the inside of my pocket. I somehow lost BOTH gloves this time! And they were cuter! And one glove of a $3 set isn't too bad, but losing a $4.50 set 10 days later... I was not pleased. I shoved my cold hands into my pocket, and decided to eat the yogurt and granola I'd brought with (borrowed a small container from the house.)

I kept walking and was reminded about the stupid seam on my socks and my need for shoes, so I looked for shoe stores. Found two right next to each other, but still not really anything. I was kind of thinking short boots with little to no heel, probably laces, cute, not necessarily super girly, and comfy. The things that seemed to generally be lacking was comfy and cute. I'd find something almost cute, then look at it... and realize there was something weird about it! I left the second store and realized I was close to the train station, which is right next to the big mall. Destination determined.

I got there, and went into a couple of stores, but still nothing. I was getting seriously annoyed. I looked at my watch and realized the time, and how little I'd eaten since lunch. Probably a partial source of the annoyed. I stopped for a pain au chocolat, but of course the place was out. Luckily they had something else croissant-ish with chocolate to have instead. After that, I realized that my feet did really hurt, too. I looked at the map. 5 shoe stores. I went to two on the lower level. Gross. I went to two on the upper level. Still not right. I went into a clothes store that also had shoes. Crappy crap for too much.

Then I thought about how much real shoes cost at home. And how much they were likely to cost here. I couldn't go looking for shoes for like 30 euro and expect comfort and looks! duh! So back downstairs. Tried on a couple. One or two that might have worked, but not in my size. No, still don't like. Decided to return to the previous two places within sight of the train station. Even looking a little higher priced, just no good! I started to leave, defeated, when I spotted a more expensive place. I started to just walk past. Then decided, no, it's the sales, why not see???

The sales floor was FILLED with shoe boxes, quite similar to many of the other places. Even on sale, a lot of them were still 100 euro. $150. Not gonna happen, especially for a brand I don't know. I saw one pair that just might work. Black, no heel, laces, and some sort of buckle across the laces. Tried them on. Fairly comfy. Ok price. And looked down with my jeans over part. No, just very unattractive. I decided to give up, go home, and hope for better luck another day. Then as I was on the way out, I noticed two different shoes sitting together atop a pile of boxes. Usually one shoe is set on top of a stack of its boxes. One of them was a short, brown boot. With laces. And no heel. I held my breath and... they had my size! I put it on. ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........ comfy. So nice. Finally, the price (crossing fingers) - YES! woo-hoo! I had been thinking black, so I looked at them again. Put both on. walked around a little. yes. I took them to the register, the guy rang them up and asked if I wanted matching polish. I said no. And then saw that there were 10 colors behind him. Well, if I'm gonna have leather boots from france, i may as well make sure they can keep their original color! And told him, actually, yes, I probably should since i am not from here and can't be sure of matching the color later. So I have my lovely boots. I am ok with them being brown. I hardly every wear black pants, and if I do I can wear other shoes.

To the theater!!
I am staying with two theater students now, a guy and a girl, let's call them Tom and Lynn. Last night there was a play that they got tickets to see as part of their school. Tom happens to work part-time at the theater, so he offered me his ticket since he'll see it 6 or 8 times while working there. Of course I couldn't turn that down! I asked what it was about, and they didn't really know. It's the fifth one they've seen since October. They did know it had two alumni from their school in it.

I met Lynn downtown in Lille, and we walked over to where the shuttle was waiting. Apparently, there was some question about how the seats had been reserved and how many people would really fit, but we all got on without a problem. About 20 minutes later, we were in front of the theater. We all walked in, waited around for a little bit (since we were early) some people got food, some people got drinks, and then we filed into the seating area. The set was very sparse, and the program listed just 5 actors. The title was "Dehors peste le chiffre noir," which means "Get out black number plague." Really didn't help give a clue about the play.

The show started. Lots of lights. Some music (piano, violin, and guitar on stage.) There are some cool lighting effects with the cast moving around behind a screen, so all we see are vague colors and their silhouettes. Then they come out. And start talking. Talking about whose fault it is, or isn't, when bad things happen. They talk about stereotypes of poor people, of people with money, of how people get in debt and how easy it is. I quickly realize that there is no plot, it's more of a social commentary piece. Even so, it seems a bit... odd to me. I keep watching, thinking maybe it will all come together. How statistics lie. How many people have trouble with money. The twisted ideas we have about how those with (or without) money should act. Or are allowed to act. It was interesting in a way. The whole thing basically talked about how as a society we have a very strange, unhelpful relationship with money. But was still seriously weird, I thought. Maybe it was just me.

The lights go out. After a bit, people start to clap. It's sort of slow, restrained clapping. It was a heavy topic after all. Then we all go out into the lobby. Questions are being asked. "Did you get it?" "What were they going for?" "What was with them all repeating the same thing so much?" Ha. It wasn't just me. It was seriously weird. Still, a neat experience, and I'm glad I went. I'm just also VERY glad I wasn't the only one who wondered what the heck was going on and why. :)

Tomorrow I am headed to school with them, they got permission for me to come. I am rather sure it will be better than the play!