12-28-17 Paris Opera House and Lunch at Galeries Lafayette

December 28th – three days after Christmas and 3 days before the New Year starts and we found ourselves taking a tour of the Paris Opera House.

Outside and main entrance of the Paris Opera House

The Palais Garnier is a 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It’s called Palais Garnier in recognition of the opulence created by the architect, Charles Garnier. Historically known as the Opéra de Paris or simply the Opéra it is the primary home of the Paris Opera and it’s associated ballet until the Opera moved into a new building Opéra Bastille in 1989. The Palais Garnier has been called one of the most famous opera houses in the world and is the setting for the novel The Phantom of the Opera and the subsequent plan by the same name.

This is the Grand Staircase into the Opera House – I cheated and downloaded this picture.

The interior of the building is filled with gold leaf, statues, decorative ceilings, huge entrance stairs and lots of other stuff that will impress the visitor. Our audio guide tour was well worth the cost and very informative.

 

 

 

Janeen on the stairs
Ryan, Chris and Claudia at one of the overlook areas of the grand stair case
David and Janeen
Lovely statue greeting you as you come into the place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ceilings and walls were amazing. This is where the folks came to be “seen” during the intermission.
Just amazing beauty throughout the place.
Opera seating and boxes
Box 5 of the Opera House – think Phantom of the Opera…

We have been in several opera houses during our various adventures (Budapest, Venice and Prague over the last few years) and this is one of the most impressive ones we have seen.

After our tour it was time for lunch and we went to the Dome at the Galeries Lafayette.

Christmas inside Galeries Lafayette
The display of Christmas was really amazing. There was also a “show” every so often.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, while we were there, we did stop and look at the decorations on the inside of the building and particularly the fancy ceiling. Always an treat to visit and take a gander at beautiful art.

Here we are waiting (Ryan on the right side) for our table inside the Dome.

The Dome Restaurant is exactly that – plastic domes on the roof of the building. While there we of course had to take several pictures of the buildings around us. Lunch was actually quite good – given there really isn’t a kitchen on the roof and the hot stuff came from down stairs – a lovely way to spend the afternoon as the rain passed by.

 

Again, pictures had to be taken – Janeen and Claudia share a moment.
Everyone had to have a picture with the Tower.
On the roof at Galeries Lafayette
With the Opera House in the background, Janeen and Claudia
Nice lunch inside the Dome

After lunch we headed back to the apartment to rest up for the next adventure.