花見 [cherry blossom]

X de Sceaux 2018 [20:25, 14/185, 2/21]

Without any preparation [apart from my daily jog], I signed for the 5k in my local park, two days before the race, the 43rd trail of Sceaux. As it had snowed a lot in the past week, the race was mostly on (in?) slush, if not overly slippery, the remaining part being enjoyably muddy! I did a fairly poor time but still managed to squeeze in between the first and the third runners in my V2 (Grand Masters) category. With a 4 seconds differential each time!

 

Die Zauberflöte

Attending Mozart’s Zauberflöte last week at the Volksoper Wien was a great reward for taking part in this (somewhat gruesome) grant evaluation! The atmosphere was relaxed, with loads of families and (very well-behaved!) young children [all siding for Papageno!] And the opera was given from a 2005 production, with a fast-paced orchestration and a great female singer cast (as opposed to the last time I saw the opera in Sceaux, when the Queen of the Night had botched her major arias!), if less so on the male singer side, Papageno excepted. (Sarastro barely audible in the lowest notes…) The three boys were fantastic as well. (As usual, I find the plot  incomprehensible, with Sarastro and his cult (and the kidnapping of his daughter) as despicable as the Queen’s moral pressure on Pamina…)

When running towards the Donauinsel in the early morning the next day, I saw this poster and realised the same Zauberflöte was played in another Viennese theatre, which is amazing, given that the Staatoper will also give it next December. Or not if considering that a part of Vienna’s attraction is this rich music scene.

trick or treat?!

Two weeks ago, we went to a local restaurant, connected to my running grounds, for dinner. While the setting in a 16th building that was part of the original Sceaux castle was quite nice, the fare was mediocre and the bill more suited for a one star Michelin than dishes I could have cooked myself. The height (or rather bottom) of the meal was a dish of sardines consisting in an half-open pilchard can… Just dumped on a plate with a slice of bread. It could have been a genius stroke from the chef had the sardines been cooked and presented in the can, alas it sounded more like the act of an evil genie! Or more plainly a swindle. As those tasty sardines came straight from the shop!

morning run

41ième cross de Sceaux [5km/19:11/15th/2nd V2]

the raven, the cormorant, and the heron

This morning, on my first lap of the Grand Bassin in Parc de Sceaux, I spotted “the” heron standing at its usual place, on the artificial wetland island created at one end of the canal. When coming back to this spot during the second lap, I could hear the heron calling loudly and saw a raven repeatedly diving near it and a nearby cormorant, who also seemed unhappy with this attitude, judging from the flapping of its wings… After a few dozens of those dives, the raven landed at the other end of the island and this was the end of the canal drama! Unless there was a dead fish landed there, I wonder why the raven was having a go at those two larger birds.