Le palais de justice

Well, no, we haven't visited Mont St. Michel yet - but I'll write about it next time, I promise! I just wanted to take the opportunity now to talk about the activities of the past few days. Actually, night before last I stayed in and read some of my fascinating french novel, Les Hommes, etc. (Men, etc.) It's kind of like Bridget Jones' Diary, in France. It's great! The author, Irene Frain, has such a unique and compelling voice. It's really like being inside the heroine's head. (And what a bizarre place that is...) She compares looking for a lover to shopping, saying that now that she's made the decision to actively look for someone, it's like being at a great sale and really wanting to buy something, but not being able to find anything you actually like. Ha ha. (Of course the moral is, it's when you stop looking that the perfect thing just tumbles into your lap.) I also like the way she incorporates sounds into the story (lots of onomotopaieas, however on earth you spell that word) and gives everyone nicknames in the character's thoughts (the Astronomer, the Crocodile, Dirty Guy, etc.) It's very richly written. And I can't wait to see if she ever ends up finding true love!

Okay, anyway, enough about that. I also started a knitting project, after buying disgustingly expensive yarn... and of course, I couldn't understand how the saleslady explained that I was supposed to get it from being in a twisty loop (the way they sell it) into balls like you knit with, and I managed to tangle this slender, slippery yarn into one big huge knot. So for the past week I've been spending like half an hour a day untying that crazy thing. It's kind of soothing, actually... but I sure would like to start knitting my poncho. (Didn't you know? They're all the rage again... but by the time mine's finished, I'm sure they'll have gone back out of style!)

The coolest thing I've done this week was yesterday afternoon, when Bénoît took me and a group of people to the Palais de Justice to hear some court proceedings. First of all, I have to describe this building. It's new, built just a few years ago, and it replaced a traditional marble building with classical architecture, you know, like the Supreme Court building in the U.S. This new building is the farthest from that I could possibly imagine. It looks like something out of the Matrix. It's huge, black, and very angular. The concrete expanse in front of it slopes at an angle too, so you have to walk up to get to it, making it even more intimidating. It's got a large overhang that looms over you and the front is covered with what seems like a gridwork of metal, like a grill or something... It's like walking into a futuristic jail. Inside, there are two huge black cubes, one on either side. (Each contains two courtrooms.) Their surfaces are also covered with black cubic projections, and the doors blend in with the pattern so the only way you can tell where they are is by the little sign that says, 'poussez'. Then when you do push on it, it looks like part of the wall just swings in, and you see that the doors are square - as wide as they are tall. The courtroom itself is also cubic, but is in a very red wood, like mahogany or cherry, and is illuminated with a grayish light that washes everyone out and makes them look dead. It is seriously the weirdest, scariest place! So geometrical, so dark, so intimidating! If I was on trial... let's just say I would be pretty scared.

Still, it was cool to visit. The lawyers wear black robes too, although the judges have white bibs and the lawyers just have funny furry tassel thingies. There are a ton of people in there! We went to a misdemeaner court, and there were two lawyers each for the prosecution and defense, and three judges with one presiding, and of course a stenographer, and then the representative of the state. (I couldn't really figure out his role; he represents 'the law,' Bénoît said, and testified for each case, read the applicable law, etc... but he seemed to be taking the prosecution's side in both cases, so I was pretty confused.) It was hard to understand much of what was said because everyone talked way to fast, and plus the acoustics in that oddly-shaped room weren't so good... but I managed to gather that one case was about money laundering, and the other was about fraudulent medical practice. The second one was way more interesting. They were trying to decide whether you had to be a doctor to perform acupuncture. "The law" and the prosecution said yes, and the case seemed to be closed after the testimony of the accused. "Did you perform acupuncture?" the judge asked, and the non-doctor tried to evade the question, talking about the healing energy of the needles, etc. "But what did you do with the needles?" the judge persisted. "You weren't knitting!" I found that pretty funny... especially as it was one of the few things I understood... But then the defense lawyer was amazing. He told jokes, turned around and addressed the spectators, and was very animated. But most importantly, after winning over everyone in the room, he pointed out that the law could be interpreted differently and that his client had not used acupuncture on patients for treatment purposes, but rather for preventative purposes. Hmm. He was very clever, and managed to put words in the prosecution's mouth - 'you didn't dare call my client a charlatan, but that's what you meant.' he went on to say, 'the doctors who refuse to see the benefits of homeopathic medicine, they are the charlatans!' It was fascinating to watch... Too bad the judges won't issue the decision until October! Maybe I'll go back and find out how it turns out. If I can stand to enter the building again. :) It was cool to see how different the French justice system is from the U.S., though. (For starters, the Court started an hour late! Typical French quarkochronism... That is, non-strict perception of time and schedules...) Suffice it to say, I'm glad I won't have to practice law in France!