Sans Bordeaux; Orig. French; Meaning without boredom, without dough

Yesterday was my big Bordeaux adventure! I woke up at 4 am (grumble, grumble) to take the Noctillien bus to Gare Montparnasse(isn't Noctillien a great word? It means all the people who are on said bus look miserable and sleepy). Thankfully I got on the train with out a hitch and then slept hunched around my backpack, trying to get warm.

At Bordeaux St. Jean train station I was met by Dragoss Ouedraogo, a professor of visual anthropology. We went to the University of Bordeaux and I interviewed him for 2 hours! He is currently making a documentary about contemporary African dancers and was very knowledgeable. According to him, African dance has been changed due to economics. Almost all of the funding/residencies come from France, which he sees as a way for France to have a cultural influence on its former colonies. He also told me that, when he was in an African music group, theaters only wanted to present African shows performed by black Africans. If there were white members in the group, he said, they didn't think it was authentic enough. He attributes this to a type of exoticism that has continued around traditional African dance and music in France. (There is much more, and if you want to hear about it let me know!)

After the interview, we went to lunch where I essentially spent all of the rest of my cash! Horror! Next, we took a tram (Bordeaux's tram system is awesome!)to l'Alternative Ecole de Danse where I interviewed a contemporary African dancer named Awoulath. She was in Bordeaux working on a solo, had previously worked with Heddy Maalem, and been a member of the national ballet of Benin. In her opinion, there cannot be a lot of exchange between European and African dance because the base movements of each tradition are so different. However, she really loves being able to see traditional dance styles from other African countries and incorporate them into contemporary African dance.

At this point it was about 3 and Dragoss had to go to another meeting. Since I had a few (unexpected) hours to kill in Bordeaux, I decided to go sightseeing with no map and no money. I was going to go to the visitor's center, but then decided to follow the maps at each metro stop to find things I wanted to see.
This first thing I went to see was this awesome fountain in Place de Quinconces. It was one of the most interesting fountains I've seen and the rain made the spray even more effective. I loved it!!!!


An example of the maps that I followed around the city. (As I was walking by the Cathedrale St. Andre all I could think was that tomato soup sounded good. As I turned the corner, I saw a soup bar! The day's special? Tomato soup! And they took credit card! Yay!)

I kept seeing signs pointing to the "fat bell." My curiosity got the better of me, and I had to find it...

This old building said dance on it. So I took a picture.

I decided I had enough time left to find Notre Dame and that I had to do it. It was literally 2 minutes away...I didn't go inside, but from the outside this little, tucked-away church was quite pretty.


After this, I caught my train and arrived back at Lea's apartment at 12:30. Seriously, longest day ever, but well worth it!