Hello!
My half-term in Avignon was going well: I had been to Montpellier and photographed some autumn scenery. The final two activites I had planned were an origami workshop and a Harry Potter marathon (except I had only booked the first two films because I just couldn't have done them all!). So, let's see how things went.
Firstly, origami. I had seen posters advertising these workshops, which took place at Cami-Li, a local bookshop, but they were at a time when I had class. Half-term would probably be my only chance to go to one, so I jumped at it.
I arrived at the bookshop and we sat around a wooden table drinking the hot drinks that were included with the workshop. I had hot chocolate and it was amazing. There was just something very snug about the whole set-up.
We were a small group, maybe four girls my age and two little girls. The instructor, Lucie, let us choose which of the prettily patterned papers to use, and we began learning to make cranes. I had enjoyed making paper boats and fortune tellers as a kid, and I thought this wouldn't be too hard.
It wasn't that complicated in the end, but it did take me a while to get my head around it. Some parts are fiddly and there's a stage where if you hold the folded shape the wrong way up while making the next fold, it ruins the whole thing and you won't know until later on. That was a bit infuriating, but we worked it out and soon the table was piled high with multicoloured cranes.
Next, we learnt how to make tiny cranes from smaller pieces of paper. This was tricky! The final challenge was to thread our cranes onto some string, along with some beads, to make an ornament to hang up. I was really pleased with my final result.
Overall, the workshop was a lovely experience, something warm and colourful in the middle of the cold weather, and I was sad that I probably wouldn't be able to go again because of the timetable clash. Ah, well.
On the Friday before going back to Uni, I set off for the Pandora Cinema for their Harry Potter Marathon. The Pandora specialises in foreign-language films which aren't dubbed but instead have subtitles in French. Inside there was the kind of demographic I would have expected for a Potter Marathon - lots of millennials! I settled down as Philosopher's Stone began.
I don't know exactly how many times I saw that film during my childhood, but it would have been a lot. This was pure nostalgia. With regards to how they subtitled it, I was interested to see that they kept the French versions of names from the French translations of the books, for example Snape being "Rogue".
I can understand how they might have done this so that there was some continuity for French viewers who read the French books. However, for those that hadn't read the books, it must have been odd when the characters so clearly weren't saying the names that were in the subtitles.
On the plus side, I like how the subtitles were in a magic-y font and how each set appeared onscreen at what felt like the right time, with sentences being split appropriately. It made a pleasant change from the awful English subtitles I so often see on French films, with horrible fonts and too many words onscreen at a time (to the point where it can spoil surprises).
There was a very brief break before the second film, and I ran to get a sandwich from a nearby bakery. The Pandora is on the Rue de la République, which is a big shopping street, so there are plenty of food options. I and the other spectators milled around outside the cinema, before heading back inside for Chamber of Secrets.
Part of the reason why I chose the first two films to watch out of the eight was that they have an old-school feel that was lost from the third film onward. This is probably due to a mix of the plots getting darker, the characters and actors getting older and the films no longer being directed by an American - Chris Columbus's idealised view of the UK and its boarding schools certainly plays a big role in the first two chapters' aesthetic.
So, I enjoyed Chamber of Secrets' strange mixture of childhood innocence and scary monsters (though I wish the Basilisk could have somehow lived. I always have to look away from the blinding part). Sir Kenneth Branagh was brilliant as Lockhart; Alan Rickman was excellent as ever. It's just a really well-made film with great actors.
So, that was my half-term in Avignon. Although going home would have been nice, I feel I made the very best of staying here and had a fun and refreshing week.
Thanks for reading,
Liz x
