I am using this blog to catch up on some of the cool things I've seen in Paris but never had a chance to write about. For my fifth excursion way back in August, we went to the Opera Garner, which is the nicest and most well known opera house in Paris. This excursions was a little different because instead of having out teacher lead us, we joined up with another class and were led by a man who works at my program and knows a TON about this place.
One of the things I remember about what we learned was that this Opera House was the inspiration for the novel The Phantom of the Opera. This structure was built over land where the water level was unexpectedly high, causing problems when building the foundation. After many failed attempts at pumping the ground dry, the architect came up with a solution to create a space for an underground "lake" under the theater. He architect claimed there to be a Phantom ghost in the theater. The part of the story when the chandelier falls is actually based off a true event, where a counter-weightof the chandelier fell from the ceiling and killed a patron during a performance. I loved hearing about this theater's connection to Phantom of the Opera because I remember listening to the soundtrack every single car ride when I was little and then finally getting to see the performance years later. I absolutely love both the play and the music.
A view of both the ceiling and the cool statues that hold the lights. The statues used to hold actual candles, until it became too much of a fire hazzard.
A view of the top of the main staircase. This place was just unbelievably decorated and so vibrant. My neck was strained from looking up for an hour straight.
I was shocked when we were told that a lot of the detailing is actually mosaic! This is a close up of the beautiful mosaic piece.
Look familiar??? You get a gold star if you can name which famous room this was modeled after (hint: I've blogged about it already). During intermissions men would come into this long main hallway to have a smoke and a drink, while women stayed in their boxes and never made an appearance.
Just another view of the main front room!
So we weren't able to actually go into the theater because there was practice going on, but they let us sneak into one of the booths to get a sneak peak of them practicing! (which I think is even cooler).
Our guide was telling us that the Opera was a very important part of social life. Men and women would have season tickets to the Opera, and would come to every single show basically just to make an appearance. Many times, these people would just sit in their private boxes either knitting, talking, or doing anything other than watching the show they had seen so many times. When people arrived to the Opera, he explained that these little overhangs were the perfect spot to gossip about everyone entering the opera house and comment on who was with who and who was wearing what. I am definitely going to see a show (hopefully a ballet) at this Opera house while I am here. That also gives me an excuse to go shopping and find something for a fancy night (:
While just as gold, this place is not the Opera. After our tour, Jen and I went over to Galleries Lafayette, an upscale mall just down the street from the Opera. It is filled with the most expensive designers and so many nice things. There were over 7 or 8 floors!
So incredible and so pretty!
The bottom floor was full of make-up and fragrance. The floor just below that was shoe HEAVEN. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but it was incredible.
Look out for some more "catch-up" type blogs (:
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