Romeo et Juliette

Roméo et Juliette (Romeo and Juliet) is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Lyrique Impérial du Châtelet), Paris on 27 April 1867.

The opera entered the repertoire of the Opéra- Comique on 20 January 1873, with Deloffre and Carvalho returning to their roles from the premiere, where it received 391 performances in 14 years.On the 28 November 1888 Roméo et Juliette transferred to the Paris Opéra, with Patti and de Reske in the leading roles. The opera was first seen in London on 11 July 1867 and in New York on 15 November of that year.

The libretto follows the story of Shakespeare's play.

Act 1

In an Overture prologue the curtain rises for a short chorus setting the scene of the rival families in Verona. Act 1 begins with a masked ball in the Capulets’ palace. Tybalt talks to Paris about Juliette, who appears with her father. Roméo, Mercutio, Benvolio and their friends enter, disguised, and Mercutio sings a ballad about Queen Mab, after which Juliette sings a joyful waltz song. The first meeting between Roméo and Juliette takes place, and they fall in love. But Tybalt re-appears and suspects who the hastily re-masked Roméo is; while Tybalt wants immediate revenge, Capulet orders that the ball continue.

Act 2

Act 2 is set in the garden of the Capulets, and after Roméo's page Stephano has helped his master gain access, shows the two young lovers exchanging their vows of love.

Act 3

In the first scene of Act 3 Roméo and Juliette, accompanied by Gertrude, go to the cell of Laurent, and the wedding takes place. Laurent hopes that reconciliation between the houses of the Montagus and the Capulets may thus take place. The next scene is in a street near Capulet's palace where Stephano sings to attract the occupants into the street. Gregoire and Stephano skirmish as men from each family appear. The duel is first between Tybalt and Mercutio, who falls dead, and then between Roméo, determined to avenge his comrade, and Tybalt. Tybalt is killed by Roméo, who is banished by the Duke.

Act 4

In Act 4 Roméo and Juliette are seen in her room at dawn, and after a long duet Roméo departs for exile. Juliette's father comes to remind her of the dying wish of Tybalt, for Juliette to marry Count Paris. The friar gives Juliette a draught which will cause her to sleep, as if dead. After being laid in the family tomb, she will be awakened by Roméo and taken away. (A ballet scene in the grand hall of the palace was inserted at this point.)

Act 5

Act 5 finds Roméo breaking into the tomb having taken poison believing that Juliette is dead. When she awakes from the friar’s potion, there is time for a last duet before the poison takes its effect on Roméo. As her bridegroom weakens Juliette stabs herself, to be united with her lover in death.

This is my favorite song of the whole play. It's called Les Rois du Monde.

You know you've lived in France too long when...

I have lived in France for almost two years. First, I went for 8 months when I was 16 to a small town near the italian border called Gap. Then, at age 19 I went there for another year as a part of an exchange program with my boyfriend to a city called Caen, at the northern part of France. After that my boyfriend returned to Caen alone also for a year and I visited him 2 months on summer and 2 months on Christmas vacation. Now, I'm returning to France for another year this August, but now I'm going to Paris!!.. Yeap, it looks like I'll be living in the most fabulous city of the world for a while..

This is something one of my australian friends sent me about living in France... and I found it hilarious...

So, you know you've lived in France too long when:

• You end 90% of your sentences with "quoi"...
• ...And you begin them all with "bon" or "alors".
• You start to prefer baguettes to sliced bread.
• When you do actually buy sliced bread it no longer amuses you.
• You actually know what your favourite wine is.
• You feel guilty about being pissed in a bar cuz no one else is.
• The notion of food being a supermarket's main product seems unthinkable.
• You know that when shops close for "lunch hour" that actually means 4-5 hours.
• All official paperwork of any kind never takes less than 6 weeks to process.
• Toilet paper is a distant memory.
• Toilet seats are a luxury.
• Paying more than 3€ for a bottle of wine seems extortionate, but finding a Snickers for anything less than a quid seems like a bargain.
• You know the only place open on a Sunday is church.
• You stop buying soda and start drinking coffee after lunch.
• You're disappointed when your accomodation doesn't have a balcony.
• You get offended when people don't "vous" you.
• You understand French jokes.
• You stop hugging people or shaking as hands as a form of greeting, opting instead to "faire des bises".
• You've never seen so many erotic films in your life, most with a 12 certificate which start at around 3pm.
• "Going on holiday" just means going to another part of France.
• You never again make the fatal mistake of saying "Je suis plein(e)" after a meal.
• You know the difference between a crepe and a gaufrette, a croque monsieur and a croque madame.
• Cheese is an acceptable dessert, and your favorite dessert is no longer ice cream but crème brulée.
• You know all of the women in the boulangerie by name.
• You stop putting "xoxo" at the end of your texts and start to opt for "biz".
• You cross the roads without looking.
• You start using French words/phrases to your non-speaking French friends and it seems weird that they can't understand.
• You say "merci" and "s'il vous plait" about 5 times during any one shop transaction.
• You know what URSAAF, TGV and RER stand for - and you hate them all.
• You have to go the mairie at least once a month.
• You don't notice that distinctly "French toilet smell" anymore.
• McDonalds becomes MacDo.
• It's not weird when a total stranger bids you "bonjour" or "bonsoir".
• You say "dis-donc" about 50 times a day (though you're still not quite sure what it means....)
• Random condom machines in the street no longer shock/amuse you.
• You start to say "hop" after every single action you make.