Rugby and Jazz!

 As Glenn's gift on this past Fathers' Day, the girls purchased some tickets to a Rugby friendly (against New Zealand) for soon after our arrival in Paris.  I had never before seen a Rugby game (match?), and I'm not sure that Glenn had either, but we headed out to Stade de France for a fun adventure.  (A common theme of this blog is the ease with which one can navigate within and around Paris without a car.  And our excursion to Stade de France fit neatly in that theme.  The RER B took us there without incident or delay.)

I always think it's interesting to get a glimpse into some new subculture, and attending an event like this was an excellent way to get a feel for the French rugby vibe.  And, as we learned right before the game, the Rugby World Cup is this year and being hosted by France!  The coincidental timing was great--our tickets were for the last game that the French National Rugby team would play before the beginning of the World Cup.  

Consistent with this game being a friendly and with the excitement of the World Cup, the crowd was happy, upbeat, and, well, friendly.  They cheered France, waved the tricolore, and sang the Marseillaise, of course, but also cheered good plays by New Zealand.  The crowd also seemed a little goofy--sort of what you might find at a Green Bay Packers game with a bunch of fans wearing silly hats and face paint.  And, I was a little surprised by how many families were there.  

One very nice thing about the game was that every penalty was explained in great detail--with graphics and diagrams--on the scoreboard.  I was surprised, because typical rugby fans must already know what all of the penalties are and when they are called.  It was super helpful for us, though.  We had a great evening, learned a little about the rules and strategy of rugby, and now have a bit more understanding to help us follow the World Cup in the next few weeks.  We will be rooting for Les Bleues!

We also recently obtained tickets to the Jazz festival at La Villette--birthday gifts to me from my siblings.  We went to two concerts, both really interesting and enjoyable.  La Villette is a relatively new park and cultural venue in the northeast part of Paris.  It was established sometime around 1980 in a location that had been the Paris stockyards since the Hausmann planning period in the mid-nineteenth century.  There are a few different venues at La Villette, but the venue where we saw both concerts was the Grand Hall, which used to be a livestock market.  It is a beautiful and graceful old building constructed with a lot of iron and glass.  

Below is a photo of the interior of the Grand Hall, taken during the day (when we were there for a different purpose), followed by two photos taken during the concerts we attended.  By the way, my favorite bands we saw were the Ezra Collective and the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio.