L'Opera

But first, today's breakfast (lunch?) menu:
Banana bread with quince jam
Homemade yogurt, using half milk half soymilk, with honey stirred in
Tea from a bowl
I approve!

I scribbled down part of a post during intermission, so I'll start with that:
Well, here I am at the Lille Opera house. Chloe wanted to see the show, but the cheapest tickets (5E) are in sections where you are quite high and can't see all of the stage. The next step up is a bit better, but is 11E ($15ish) and starts to be more difficult for students. Chloe has a friend who works here so she called her Monday to see if the audience was full for tonight. The friend said no, so Chloe asked me to come wait at 7 for last-minute tickets. I get here at 7, and the ticket girl tells me they are available at 7:45. But at least that made me the first in line (other started showing up literally minutes later, so that's probably why I was told to be there at 7. Chloe was babysitting so she wasn't there.) I waited, wishing I had brought her Lille guidebook with me. At 7:45 the ticket girl says it's time, I ask for 2 tickets, hand her the 10E and am handed two category 1 tickets. The usual 5E tickets? They're category 5. Category 1 is... the opposite. You know, down low with a great view. Chloe was thrilled, she's never had seats that good before. She didn't even know where exactly we should go, but with the help of an usher (her friend, who was also impressed by the seats) we found our way. To the ninth row, middle section, on the aisle. Everyone around us clearly paid a lot more than $7.50. Most of them are over 40. In the Opera house info booklet, Chloe flips to the page with the categories and pricing. WOW. Regular price for our seats? $93. Each. I shit you not. I definitely don't mind waiting 45 minutes for that. The show so far is great, too. Lyrics in Russian, subtitles in French (they're supertitles, actually, they're above the stage and to the sides as well.) I don't think I've seen a full-on opera before. It's pretty fun and in many ways like other theater. Except things happen V E R Y S L O W L Y..........

I could spend all day writing, but I'd much rather go out, with the giant chunks of snow drifting silently to the ground, and do something. For now, then, just this: it was fantastic - the singing, the music, the costumes, the dancing, the lights. All of it.