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| | That magnificent building of the Belle Epoque: the Palais Garnier opera house. | |
England Trip 2015
Wednesday, March 25
This will be another post from memory, as I once again neglected to write in my journal while outside of England. :)
Six years ago when we first came to Paris I had greatly looked forward to seeing the Palais Garnier, the opera building, but we had neglected to look up what was going on at the opera, and – surprise, surprise– there was an opera actually going on, so it was closed. Since we visited on our last day we were forced to forgo the pleasure of a glimpse inside. Which meant that seeing this grandiose building became one of our priorities for the next trip.
And see it we did!
We began our day with the essential visit to a patisserie down the street from our apartment to snap up some of Paris's world-renowned quiche and pastry before hopping on the Metro to emerge on to the street around the corner from the Opera square and begin our search for some reasonably priced coffee.
McDonald's is usually the best bet, but on this occasion we decided on Starbucks, and a particularly elegant Starbucks at that. I have never seen a Starbucks that looked so much like an eighteenth century drawing room! Talk about going for a classy atmosphere. I'm sure the walls and ceilings were originals, which gave it more than a simply elegant appearance, it was another small moment of stepping back into history that seems to appear every other minute when you visit Europe.
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| Our coffee, very chocolate pastry and coffee eclair. |
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| Starbucks meets the eighteenth century near the Paris Opera. |
After a relaxing breakfast, which provided the perfect opportunity to use the free wifi and update Facebook, we strolled off down the street to find the side entrance of the Palais Garnier. It was at last time to tour the most opulent building I had ever yet beheld...
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| Part of the entrance hall. You can get a sore neck looking up at it all! |
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| On the lower level, ready to begin our excursion. |
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Lots of red and gold.
That's all you need to make the most opulent theater, ever. |
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"Duuuuuun, dun, dun, dun, dun, duuun!"
Thankfully, it didn't fall on us, and neither did we meet any singing men wearing masks... ;) |
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| A view from the front balcony to the exceptional Paris architecture. |
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| The most excessive display of splendor in a building already full of it: the Grand Foyer. |
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| Our day at the opera! :) |
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| The Grand Escalier |
It was impossible for someone who possesses an imagination, a desire to time travel and a love of historical clothing not to pretend they were a wealthy debutante attending an opera at the Palais Garnier in an elegant gown at the beginning of the twentieth century. (Meaning that I did just that, of course.) ;)
A building like this gives a person such a vivid peak at the past and brings to life scenes from over a century ago. And when that happens you can understand an entire culture to a degree that is impossible without being physically on the spot.
Our next destination was the Musée de Cluny, Paris's museum of the Medieval world that is located in an actual medieval building and filled with a plethora of medieval objects.
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| Ready to enter the Musee de Cluny. |
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| Medieval combs. |
I love to see any artifacts related to clothing, hair and beauty. For me this gives an insight into the daily lives of young women like myself who lived centuries in the past. It's almost a tangible way to connect with them and remember them as real people who actually lived. This is why I took pictures of practically every tapestry in the place – and there were many – since tapestries were often the only sources that depicted women's fashions during the time.
Possibly the most treasured items in the museum are the 'Lady and the Unicorn' tapestries from circa 1500. There are six in all: five representing the five senses and the famously enigmatic sixth that supposedly represents a sixth sense of love and understanding. Each tapestry is the size of a wall, being maybe 10x10 feet, so the display room is quite impressive. (The Lady's clothes are all quite lovely, too.)
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| The tapestry of the cryptic sixth sense. |
Our next destination was the Cathedral of Sacre Couer up through Montmarte. And when I say up, I mean
up! We climbed scores and scores of steps, and very steep steps they were, to reach the spot reputed to have the most spectacular view of Paris. The view on the way up was rather less than spectacular, as that particular part of Paris is less than pristine. But the view was quite beautiful. We had the perfect warm light from a dramatically cloudy sky, giving the many white buildings of the city a pleasant glow as the sun began to set.
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| A view of Paris from Sacre Couer. |
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| There is Sacre Cour itself, looking like the birthday cake that Hercule Poirot described. |
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| The other side of the city. |
As we did, you may wonder where the Eiffel Tower may be. Surely such a famous monument would be immediately visible on the Paris skyline. That is what we thought, and were puzzled when it was nowhere to be seen. After a bit of searching, however, we at last found it, hidden behind some trees.
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| There's the Tour Eiffel hiding behind the trees on the right. |
After our long climb to Sacre Couer we began to long for another bite of Paris's famous cuisine. We therefore pulled out our trusty copy of Rick Steves Paris (just bought in London) to look for a reasonable and delicious restaurant in which to have our last French dinner. We wandered down the steps to the right of the cathedral (if you're facing it) where one recommended place was to be found. Unfortunately, we couldn't seem to find this particular restaurant, but we had passed another pleasant looking place, and, after dawdling outside of it's door for a bit from an uncertainty of its being open, we decided to be daring and step inside.
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| The cheerful exterior of L'Ete en Pente Douce. |
We were met by a very pleasant young man, who seemed to be a younger member of the family that owned the restaurant. It was the L'Ete en Pente Douce, a place I would recommend for it's welcoming, relaxed atmosphere, hearty and delicious food and fabulous dessert! Mom began the conversation with a question, "Fermé?" to which he replied, "No, come in!" This was followed by a necessary laugh on Mom's part because it was apparent he recognized us as Americans from Mom's accent. :) (To which I must add that I always think Mom has an excellent French accent! I just suppose that natives can spot a foreigner almost anywhere. Or maybe it was our clothes...)
He found us a lovely corner table and gave us some recommendations for our dinner in English, and explained that most people ate their evening meal rather later than we were currently having ours (which wasn't exactly early). And, sure enough, people began trickling in not too long after that. There were not only people, but a cat who appeared to be a permanent member of the establishment. He seemed to be greatly enjoying himself by wandering all around the restaurant at will, finally settling himself by a lady with whom he already seemed on familiar terms.
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| My dish was a joint of pork in a lentil and vegetable soup. |
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| And Mom's was a stuffed pepper with salad. |
We decided to try something rather unusual for dessert: a pear and chocolate tarte with a (not unusual) cup of coffee. It was delicious! It's hard to go wrong with the chocolate in this town – I think it would even make broccoli taste better. (If you're not partial to broccoli like I am.)
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| Pear tarte for dessert! And our mirror trick for getting pictures of ourselves together (selfies get a little boring). |
On our way to the nearest Metro station we met a nice young couple that we enjoyed talking with as we walked. He was from Algiers and I think she was a native of Paris.
Our last night in our pleasant apartment was spent in packing up, watching the BBC world news (I think we got addicted to BBC News...) and calling home.
Next stop: Haarlem and The Netherlands!
© 2015 Anna Morton
