Au revoir Paris Olympics, Bonjour Normandie
An outdoor lunch at Pavé d’Auge in Beuvron-en-Auge
Bienvenue and welcome back to Musée Musings, your idiosyncratic guide to Paris and art. This week, some of what I saw and did and ate in Normandie and Bretagne. But first, a few final words about the Olympics. I decided to leave Paris during the Olympics, anticipating hordes of people (who didn’t come) and fearing terrorist attacks (which also thankfully didn’t come although we were told that at least four attacks had been thwarted).
For me, watching the Olympics every evening was a great way to unwind after a long day touring and eating. No matter what sport was being highlighted, the highlights for me were the ‘unpracticed’ moments between the competitions.
So many human interest stories popped up - among them - the husband of the French escrimeuse (female fencer) who jumped onto the court to lift his wife into the air after her win. The female athlete who proposed to her boyfriend after her win (with an Olympic pin)! (Fig 1)
Figure 1. French Track and Field medalist, Alice Finot, proposes to boyfriend after her win
I loved watching the athletes before and after their ‘events’ - their dignity in defeat, their gracious acknowledgement of others’ successes. Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles, for example, who won silver and bronze medals (I know the bronze is now disputed) respectively for Gymnastic Floor Competition, bowing as the Brazilian gymnast, Rebecca Andrade stepped up to receive her gold medal. (Fig. 2)
Figure 2. Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowing to Rebeca Andrade who won the gold
And the spectators’ enthusiasm. I loved hearing the crowd chanting ‘Léon’ every time Marchand (who trains in the U.S. with Michael Phelps’ coach) dove into the water and swam his heart out and every time he was awarded a gold medal. (Fig. 3)
Figure 3. Léon Marchand winning gold medal
Somehow, I wasn’t as charmed by the American basketball team, 39 year old billionaire LeBron James and 36 year and 35 year old millionaires, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. It just seemed wrong for those NBA legends to be playing opposite a French team, some of whom were half LeBron’s age. When I told Nicolas that I thought those guys should have found something else to do, he disagreed. They were, he explained, representing their country at the Olympics. Somehow, it didn’t bother me that members of the American women’s basketball team are also mostly professional. Sexism, I guess.
Which reminds me, did you notice that female athletes were very much in evidence at this Olympics? That’s because the Paris games sought to bring parity to the number of female athletes and their male counterparts. Which is a big change from how the Olympics (both ancient and modern) started. We’ve come a long way, baby.
I was back in Paris in time to watch the Closing Ceremony. The Opening Ceremony, which I loved (The Show Must Go On ….. And It Did!!) was a fabulously fun and intellectually rich celebration of picture perfect Paris as a worthy venue/backdrop for the Olympics. Some people complained that there weren’t enough references the games. But how could there have been, the games hadn’t started yet. And then there was the truly unbelievable misidentification of a Bacchanalian Feast for a Last Supper. (Figs 4, 5) If it had stopped at ignorance, it would have been bad enough. But when Trump called it a disgrace and Christian groups condemned it on social media, the general director and artistic director of the ceremony began receiving death threats.
Figure 4. The Bacchanal during the Olympic Opening Ceremony, Paris 2024
Figure 5. A Dutch Bacchanal, 17th century with lots more nudity and debauchery!
So it’s no surprise that the same talented guys who brought us the opening ceremony, and who both had security protection, finely tuned the closing ceremony so even the most ignorant spectator wouldn’t take offense. I’m talking to you, Donald.
The closing ceremony was mostly held in the Stade de France. But it started in the Tuileries, where both the flame and the cauldron that floats above it glowed for the two weeks of the Games. In a prerecorded segment, hometown hero, Léon Marchand walked slowly to the flame and removed it from its stand.(Fig 6) It reminded me of young King Arthur who pulled the sword out of the rock. (Fig 7) which proved that he would become the king of England. Marchand became King Léon at the Olympics. I also couldn’t help notice how Léon was dressed. We saw him for two weeks either in a Speedo or wearing track pants. For this walk, he wore a suit that I’m guessing was Louis Vuitton. Tall, slim and elegant, I see a future for him as a runway model. (Fig 8) Pharrell Williams, Vuitton’s Men’s Creative Director, probably does, too.
Figure 6. Léon Marchand after he removed Olympic Flame from the stand in the Tuileries
Figure 7. Young Arthur removing the sword to prove that he will become King Arthur
Figure 8. Léon Marchand returning to the Stade de France with Olympic flame
For the next hour, we watched the athletes pour into the stadium, in no particular order, first the flag bearers - one female and one male athlete from each competing country. Then the rest of the Olympians, again in no particular order. The competitions were over, the athletes were just young healthy people kicking back after 2 brutal weeks of work. After about an hour, I was beginning to think that maybe I had something better to do. Then the show began. A figure dressed in gold found himself in a barren landscape. (Fig 9) It was a dystopian future without Olympics. He somehow came to learn about the Olympics as gymnasts flipped and dancers pirouetted over five huge metal circles which eventually rose to become the five Olympic rings. (Fig 10) The Nike of Samothrace rose up (you know her from the Louvre) and the two masked figures from the opening ceremony showed up, too. (Figs 11, 12, 13)
Figure 9. Gold Figure descending to stage
Figure 10. Dancers and acrobats and metal rings which became Olympic Rings
Figure 10a. Putting the first of the five rings upright to become Olympic Rings
Figure 11. Nike of Samothrace on left
Figure 12. Masked figure from opening ceremony returned
Figure 13. Masked female figure from Opening Ceremony also returned
Lady Gaga wasn’t there and neither was Celine Dion. Instead, there was a pianist playing a piano hanging in the air. (Fig 14) Which was followed by some karaoke, the only song I knew was ‘We are the Champions,’ just the song for this crowd. And then came Phoenix, a rocking rock band, one member of which hurled himself into the crowd of athletes. (Fig 15)
Figure 14. Piano hanging and man playing it
Figure 15. Rock band, Phoenix performing with athletes on stage and below making a mosh pit
Finally, the American singer, H.E.R. nailed the American National Anthem (Fig 16) as Tom Cruise catapulted into the Stade to get the Olympic flag from Simone Biles, (Figs 17-19) who had gotten it from the mayor of Los Angeles who had gotten it from the President of the Olympic Committee, who had gotten it from the mayor of Paris. Cruise took the flag, secured it to his motorcycle and drove away. After that, a very round and very talented singer, dressed in custom Dior, (Fig 20) sang My Way, not the original French way but the Frank Sinatra way. Léon finally showed up with the flame and then, with six other athletes and the president of the olympic committee, blew out the Olympic flame, the Paris Olympics 2024 were officially over.
Figure 16. H.E.R. started singing the American National Anthem low enough that the high notes worked (whew!)
Figure 17. Tom Cruise descending into Stade de France
Figure 18. Simone Biles waiting for Tom Cruise
Figure 19. Tom Cruise with Olympic Flag securely on his motorcycle, gets ready to leave Stade de France
Figure 20. Yseult in custom Dior singing Frank Sinatra’s version of ‘My Way’
That was the French portion of the Closing Ceremony. Then, it was the American’s turn. There was another taped sequence of Tom Cruise parachuting out of an airplane (think “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible”). Back on planet earth, somewhere near Los Angeles, he handed the flag to a female cyclist. Who eventually handed it on to a runner who in turn passed it on to a skateboarder, as a larger and larger crowd ran behind the flag bearers. On a beach somewhere near L.A., the very old rock bank, Red Hot Chili Peppers sang for a while and then a very young Billie Eilish did. Next was Snoop Dog. You would have thought that with all the gender sensitivity training he must have gotten as a reporter during the Olympics, he maybe wasn’t going to be creepy, but you would be wrong. A young woman on a tricycle with very short shorts twirked as Snoop sang. (Fig 21) At least until Dr. Dre arrived to class up Snoop’s act. Instead of Versailles and the Eiffel Tower, the Olympic Rings are now secured on the Hollywood sign. (Fig 22) It sure wasn’t the Paris Olympics anymore!
Figure 21. Snoop Dogg Singing with his female friend waiting
Figure 22. The Olympic Rings on the Hollywood sign
The president of the Paris 2024 Olympics organizing committee Tony Estanguet, ended the evening and the games just as he had begun them - with a beautiful speech. Here’s a little of what he said at the closing ceremony, “To you, athletes, what can I say? We knew you would be brilliant, but you were magic, You made us happy, you made us feel alive.” He explained the French expression, coup de foudre, (thunderbolt, love at first sight) and told the athletes that the French people had experienced exactly that during the Olympics. They had unexpectedly and in spite of themselves, fallen in love with the Olympics. “Together, we have experienced the Games like nothing we have ever lived before. From one day to the next, time stood still and a whole country got goose bumps.” And he was right, watching feats of magnificent athleticism in front of a backdrop of iconic Parisian monuments, left everyone awestruck.
So, back to me. The day after the Olympics Opening Ceremony, I picked up my rental car at Europcar (through Kemwel) at the Gare du Nord (15 minutes by metro from my flat), I headed directly to Rouen, which is halfway between Paris and where I would be staying the first week of my trip. There were two exhibitions that I wanted to see in Rouen, both were part of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1874 and both at the Musée des Beaux Arts.
There was a spectacular exhibition on Whistler (Fig 23) which included a painting on loan from the Musée d’Orsay, Whistler’s mother. And an endearing exhibition of David Hockney’s work - portraits of his neighbors in Normandy and iPad landscapes, mostly of his property in Normandy. (Fig 24) Was there a link between the two? Of course there was, Proust! I am really, seriously beginning to question how I was able to live so long without Proust in my life. How many references, allusions, connections passed me by because I had not yet been indoctrinated into this rich and marvelous world.
Figure 23. Whistler l’effect papillon, Musée des Beaux-Arts Rouen - through September 22, 2024
Figure 24. David Hockney Normandism, Musée des Beaux Arts, Rouen, until 22 September, 2024
I’ll tell you about both exhibitions in conjunction with a third, also a celebration of Proust that I saw at the La Villa du Temps retrouvé in Cabourg.
My first week away, in Normandy, was brilliant. I stayed in a comfortable house (through HomeExchange) with a front and back garden. One garden was perfect for enjoying breakfast, the other for relaxing over dinner. The house was in a village called Dives-sur-Mer. I chose it because it was one of the villages that Proust remembered when he created his fictional town, Balbec. That and Houlgate, where his grandmother had a home. And Cabourg, of course, where I stayed in February at the Grand Hotel. Dives is also important historically, it was from the port at Dives that Guillaume de Conquérant set out in 1066 to conquer England.
Dives-sur-Mer is situated between Cabourg and Houlgate. If you walk left along the beach, after about 20 minutes, you get to Cabourg. If you walk right when you get to the beach, you arrive at Houlgate, also 20 minutes away. (Figs 25-27)
Figure 25. Dives-sur-Mer wandering around the village
Figure 26. Cabourg Beach in front of the Grand Hotel
Figure 27. Houlgate Beach at sunset
I explained Dives to Ginevra this way. It’s like Bruges with a beach. She and I and Nicolas visited Bruges about 15 years ago. We convinced Nicolas to join us by promising to visit all the places that Collin Farrell went in the 2008 film ‘In Bruges’ - even the Pizza Hut. We all fell in love with Bruges. And that’s exactly what happened to me at Dives. Except that not only does Dives have a beach, but the nearby towns and villages are especially interesting to me. Besides Cabourg and Houlgate, there’s Beuvron en Auge, David Hockney’s new hometown. And Rouen, Caen, Deauville and Honfleur all of which I visited, as I fantasized about moving to Dives.
On my first day at Dives, a Sunday, I had booked lunch at the restaurant in Beuvron en Auge that I had enjoyed so much in February, the Pavé d’Auge. What a difference a season or two makes. When I was there in February, it was very quiet. Returning for lunch on a Sunday in July, it was bustling with welcoming shops and strolling people. And instead of sitting inside, my back warmed by the fireplace, I was on the terrace, my back cooled by a pleasant breeze. (Fig 28) The meal this time was as delicious and innovate as it had been the first time, more about it later.
Figure 28. Restaurant Pavé d’Auge eating on the terrace in the summertime
The woman at whose home I was staying sent me an email right before she boarded her flight to New York telling me not to miss La Patrouille de France which would be performing that afternoon in Cabourg. I learned, to my pleasure, that La Patrouille is an acrobatic air show comparable to the Blue Angels, which I loved seeing every October in San Francisco but which I haven’t seen since I moved to Paris.
A little before 4:00 p.m. I joined a throng of people walking towards the beach Dives shares with Cabourg. (Fig 29) The pedestrian bridge we crossed, the passerelle, felt none too steady. As I walked on it, I thought about the tale of the man who learns that Death is coming for him. He jumps on his horse and rides all day and all night. When he arrives at a town as far away as he could get, Death was there. It was where Death had been told to meet him. I wondered if by leaving Paris I hadn’t avoided my destiny but met it. As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one who felt uneasy on that passarelle. Right after the Patrouille air show, (Figs 30-33) restrictions for the number of people allowed on the bridge at any one time were put in place!
Figure 29. Cabourg / Divas-sur-Mer Beach waiting for Patrouille de France air show to begin
Figure 30. Patrouille de France air show, Cabourg Beach
Figure 31. Patrouille de France air show, Cabourg Beach
Figure 32. Patrouille de France air show, Cabourg Beach
Figure 33. Patrouille de France air show, Cabourg Beach
Once again, I’ve run out of space, next time more about my trip. Gros bisous, Dr B.
Copyright © 2024 Beverly Held, Ph.D. All rights reserved
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New comments on Old Things through New Eyes:
Oh, Beverly, thank you for your musings, which never fail to brighten my day! Here are my musings, in no particular order: *I minored in art history in college, but never learned half as much as I have from you! *I love being connected, through you, to a world-wide group that shares similar interests! *I love to travel, especially in Europe, but have not been able to in recent years due to caretaking an elderly mother, and now an older husband. Visiting vicariously through you keeps my spark alive!! *I taught high school English for years, but never read Proust, and now feel inadequate. Is it too late? ;) (Rhetorical; it's never too late.) *After my 90yo mother died, I began fostering bottle baby kittens for our local DCSPCA. I saved one particularly fragile neonate, abandoned by its mother, infested with maggots in an open wound, rushing it to emergency care, and her eventual adopter named her ODETTE in honor of my maiden name, Odell. After reading your latest posting, I have a new appreciation for tge name ODETTE.
Thank you for sharing your travels, your knowledge, and your expertise with all of us. The world is a better place because YOU are in it. Thank you!!! Bonnie, Rhinebeck, NY
Beverly, I just loved reading about Illiers-Combray! Thank you for telling your followers about your visit. And you were sweet to feature your dear Nicolas. Morris, N.Carolina
Dr. B. Yes, quite an essay….. Have you started a Proust Fan Club in Paris ? Interesting note about the perfume buying experience……clever idea with the engraving. Bill, Ohio
Loved going along with you on your Proust filled trip. Fascinating. I am sure you were in “ seventh heaven” with all the Proust connections. Thank you for taking us on a memorable jaunt. Deedee. Baltimore
Dear Beverly,
I loved the detailed account of your visit to the land of Proust: the house, the town, the surroundings. Quite an industry is growing in Proust-land! I wonder if it’s still true that Illiers-Combray is the only town named after a fictional place in a novel? I was told that by a guide years ago.
I long to go again to see Tante Léonie’s renovated house. Maybe even stay overnight this time? Perhaps this upcoming Paris séjour? All my best. Melinda, Paris