A Dream Come True: Visiting Opera Garnier

Since watching the movie The Phantom of the Opera it has a been a dream of mine to see this opera, especially in the opera house it supposedly took place in. Le Palais Garnier was built from 1861 to 1875 by Charles Garnier, under Napoleon III instruction.

Monsieur Garnier built a separate entrance for the emperor, at the time Napoleon, who never got to use his own entrance.  

The Grand Foyer is where guests would go during intermissions. It was frowned upon for women to join the men here until a visiting queen decided there was no reason women.

The Great Chandelier

The great chandelier in the opera house is famous for the story it inspired in the Phantom of the Opera. The hurt one person and was then replaced by what now rests in its place. It did not burn the opera house down.

The Grand Staircase was beautiful, amazing, and breathtaking! It reminded me of the staircase in the Titanic.

Currently the opera house hosts more ballets and for operas one attends the Opera Bastille.

Le Palais Garnier was everything I imagined and dreamed of. I would have loved to have seen the lake underneath that is the setting for much of the Phantom. I sadly was not able to attend an opera in my time is Paris, so until next time mon Paris.

 

The Moment I Fell in Love: the Seine River

After my first three days I was barely getting over jet lag and was disappointed. Paris was not as I remembered it, this amazing city that I wanted to return to. My roommate, and now very good friend, convinced me for us to go out exploring. So we went to Notre Damne. It was horrible... tourists everywhere!  I knew there was no way I could deal with tourists so we decided to go to the park adjacent to the cathedral.

On the way there we heard a musician playing the violin beautifully. I finally started feeling like I was in the Paris I had dreamed of returning to. Being in the park was wonderful since being there brought back memories of high school when I visited Europe and had lunch in that park. 
 

Jovana and I went ahead and proceeded to the bridge full of love locks. I had never seen that before and I found the bridge beautiful and very romantic. It was my first moment experiencing the romance behind Paris. 

View of the island where Notre Damne is

Walking under the bridge and parallel to the Seine river made me realize I'm in Paris! How many people would kill for this opportunity and I am so lucky to be here and experience it. I loved walking right by this river and seeing so much beautiful architecture and history around me. This is the moment I fell in love with Paris! 

As we are walking by the river Parisians are relaxing on the grass reading books or sitting by the water and chatting. All of a sudden we come upon these kids skateboarding and doing tricks right by the Seine! I sat down and watched them just amazed that I was sitting by the Seine river with a view of Notre Damne and the Pont des Arts (the most romantic and beautiful bridge in Paris) watching these kids do these amazing tricks on skateboards. I was just awestruck and really enjoyed the moment. 

 Hotel de Ville, Paris' neo-renaissance city hall was built in 1873. The building was decorated with French flags and ready for a heritage event.