Today was the first sunny day after a month of rain. Dry weather was important. The famous horse races known as the Prix de Diane aux Longines were going to take place today. The Prix de Diane is famous not only for horses but for the high fashion and hats. Dressing up is mandatory. Maiz, the woman I recently met at the Ritz, was taking me to Chantilly to see them.
She picked me up in her car outside my flat in mid morning and drove to the race track about an hour north of the city. On the car ride she was nervous. Her husband works at an embassy, and the embassy hosts many big social events attended, no doubt, by the same class of people who would be at the Prix de Diane. This is a public event, and she was bound to be recognized. She is from the Middle East, and violent forms of sharia law are practiced in parts of her country. For adultery, especially when the woman is a Muslim but the man is not, stoning to death is sometimes administered to both adulterers. Maiz was not my secret lover, but I did not know what people would think if they saw us together.
We arrived at Chantilly and walked around in the village. Maiz is beautiful and exotic if that word is acceptable. She was tall in her high heels. She wore something that a runway model might wear. She carried a Louis Vuitton handbag. It was not counterfeit. Her outfit, diamonds, and accessories cost more than most people earn in a year. At the same time, she was distant and emotionally closed. The same as when I went to the Ritz, I wore the second hand sport coat, dress pants, and motorcycle boots since I don’t have shoes.
The Prix de Diane takes place on the grounds of the château de Chantilly. At strategic places at the site, big screens were erected showing the races. There is fashion show complete with a catwalk, lights, and a DJ. Next to the track, there was a fair known as Village de Diane aux Longines.
In 37 C.E. the Emperor Caligula forced (Lucius Cassius) Longines, a Roman noble and commissioner, to divorce his sister Drusilla. He then forced her to marry the Roman noble Marcus Lepidus for political reasons. Marcus Lepidus eventually fell out of favor with the Emperor Caligula, and Caligula eventually had Lepidus executed. Drusilla was exiled. These events were featured in the 1979 erotic historical drama Caligula directed and produced by Bob Guccione of Penthouse Magazine. Although the film is considered to be pornographic because of its non-simulated sexual content, I never found it to be arousing. Not only were penises everywhere, but all of the actresses were sporting the tumbleweed bushes of the 1970s. Once the juices started flowing, they looked like glazed donuts.
The watchmaker Longines was sponsoring the race. While a lot of deep-fried doughy pastries were being sold at the food stands today, thankfully, nobody was selling glazed donuts. We sat at a table outside where we could see the horses, and a waiter brought us tea and madeleines. There was lots of eye contact, and I noticed that her makeup looked strange on the left side of her face. The makeup was covering a bruise.
We talked and meandered some more around the racetrack and fashion show. Eventually she said her marriage was in trouble. The infidelity is only part of it. There is abuse. Theirs is an arranged marriage, and if there ever had been any romance, it died a long time ago. It is a sexless marriage, and they sleep in separate rooms. She has her own life and her husband his. They live like roommates.
She talked about leaving him. Unlike many women from Arab countries, she could support herself and would not have to move in with her parents. She is from nobility and has money and options of her own. Even better, she is a lawyer had a career before she came to Paris. She could easily go back to work anywhere in the world she chose to live.
She stays with him. If there is a divorce, she would not be protected by the more egalitarian Western laws. He has diplomatic immunity and the divorce would therefore be handled by the legal system of their home country. Also, leaving him would create a scandal for both of their families. It would ruin her husband's career. Diplomatic immunity makes it difficult to handle cases of domestic violence.
By the end of the day, nobody made a sign of recognizing her, and I realized she didn't care if they did. We drove back to Paris. We had supper at a Vietnamese restaurant. She looked better. She was relaxed, confident, and connected emotionally. She dropped me off outside my flat.
She picked me up in her car outside my flat in mid morning and drove to the race track about an hour north of the city. On the car ride she was nervous. Her husband works at an embassy, and the embassy hosts many big social events attended, no doubt, by the same class of people who would be at the Prix de Diane. This is a public event, and she was bound to be recognized. She is from the Middle East, and violent forms of sharia law are practiced in parts of her country. For adultery, especially when the woman is a Muslim but the man is not, stoning to death is sometimes administered to both adulterers. Maiz was not my secret lover, but I did not know what people would think if they saw us together.
We arrived at Chantilly and walked around in the village. Maiz is beautiful and exotic if that word is acceptable. She was tall in her high heels. She wore something that a runway model might wear. She carried a Louis Vuitton handbag. It was not counterfeit. Her outfit, diamonds, and accessories cost more than most people earn in a year. At the same time, she was distant and emotionally closed. The same as when I went to the Ritz, I wore the second hand sport coat, dress pants, and motorcycle boots since I don’t have shoes.
The Prix de Diane takes place on the grounds of the château de Chantilly. At strategic places at the site, big screens were erected showing the races. There is fashion show complete with a catwalk, lights, and a DJ. Next to the track, there was a fair known as Village de Diane aux Longines.
In 37 C.E. the Emperor Caligula forced (Lucius Cassius) Longines, a Roman noble and commissioner, to divorce his sister Drusilla. He then forced her to marry the Roman noble Marcus Lepidus for political reasons. Marcus Lepidus eventually fell out of favor with the Emperor Caligula, and Caligula eventually had Lepidus executed. Drusilla was exiled. These events were featured in the 1979 erotic historical drama Caligula directed and produced by Bob Guccione of Penthouse Magazine. Although the film is considered to be pornographic because of its non-simulated sexual content, I never found it to be arousing. Not only were penises everywhere, but all of the actresses were sporting the tumbleweed bushes of the 1970s. Once the juices started flowing, they looked like glazed donuts.
The watchmaker Longines was sponsoring the race. While a lot of deep-fried doughy pastries were being sold at the food stands today, thankfully, nobody was selling glazed donuts. We sat at a table outside where we could see the horses, and a waiter brought us tea and madeleines. There was lots of eye contact, and I noticed that her makeup looked strange on the left side of her face. The makeup was covering a bruise.
We talked and meandered some more around the racetrack and fashion show. Eventually she said her marriage was in trouble. The infidelity is only part of it. There is abuse. Theirs is an arranged marriage, and if there ever had been any romance, it died a long time ago. It is a sexless marriage, and they sleep in separate rooms. She has her own life and her husband his. They live like roommates.
She talked about leaving him. Unlike many women from Arab countries, she could support herself and would not have to move in with her parents. She is from nobility and has money and options of her own. Even better, she is a lawyer had a career before she came to Paris. She could easily go back to work anywhere in the world she chose to live.
She stays with him. If there is a divorce, she would not be protected by the more egalitarian Western laws. He has diplomatic immunity and the divorce would therefore be handled by the legal system of their home country. Also, leaving him would create a scandal for both of their families. It would ruin her husband's career. Diplomatic immunity makes it difficult to handle cases of domestic violence.
By the end of the day, nobody made a sign of recognizing her, and I realized she didn't care if they did. We drove back to Paris. We had supper at a Vietnamese restaurant. She looked better. She was relaxed, confident, and connected emotionally. She dropped me off outside my flat.