Paris Opera

For my birthday, George took me to the Garnier Opera and a weekend in Paris. I have always wanted to see an opera but wasn't sure if I would like it and what better place to go than the Garnier Opera.

Because if you didn't like it, you still have the extraordinary architecture, the venue itself to appreciate. George was also apprehensive about this type of performance. Well because, I must admit, sometimes certain opera singing can be grating on the eardrums. As a precursor, we just happened to watch the movie Philadelphia with Tom Hanks and the background opera singer was enjoyable, but again I have to admit, four hours of it, hmmmmm.

But we are happy to report that we both enjoyed it very much, plus we couldn't get enough of the Garnier Opera, it is so beautiful. The Opera was La Cenerentola, an Italian opera, subtitled in French. Reading the synopsis before going was a must, it is the childhood fairytale story, Cinderella but with a couple of twists. Our French is getting better so reading the subtitles and knowing the background story, we were able to understood the majority of it.

I did not know it, but they sing the entire time, no one just talks. I'm sure their vocal cords need a rest after a night's performance. There was humor, drama and no grating of the eardrums. I was surprised with the body language expressed by the performers. We had excellent seats.

The grand staircase - Garnier Opera 

Balcony - Garnier Opera

Balcony - Garnier Opera

Balcony - Garnier Opera

Garnier Opera

Garnier Opera

Ceiling painted by Marc Chagall

We stayed in the Marais area of Paris, the fourth arrondissement. On Saturday we stumbled upon the former residence of Victor Hugo on the Place Des Vosges and took a quick tour.

Some other Saturday sites:

Random statuary

Near the Centre Pompidou

Near the Centre Pompidou

La Seine

We made dinner reservations several doors from our hotel. The L'osteria looked like a cute little place and the posted menu looked delicious. I must admit that we didn't do our homework choosing this restaurant, it just looked nice. Upon returning to the hotel later in the afternoon I saw several restaurant recommendations posted there. By far, the restaurant we chose was not the most expensive. Later that day the hotel receptionist informed us that the restaurant doesn't advertise at all, people go there through word of mouth. That all sounded perfect to us. And he said that Francois Hollande, the French President had just eaten there. Oh jeez, who would have thought. It was a very nice meal, but we both couldn't image a president going there.

On Sunday we got tickets for the Centre Pompidou which has the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe. It would have taken us several days to see it all, especially with the special exhibition of Salvador Dali. We have seen his work before at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL, which I highly recommend.

A replication of a 1974 Mae West installation originally created at the Dali-Theatre Museum in Spain. It is recreated at the current Dali Centre Pompidou exhibition-that's us seated on the lip sofa.

Photo of the original installation

By 6:00 PM we were on the train returning to our abode in the country. A great weekend in the city of lights.