Opera Garnier and Around
From Paris Hotels Reviews
Opera Garnier and Around
Set back from the boulevard des Capucines is the dazzling Opèra de Paris – usually referred to as the Opèra Garnier (www.opera-de-paris.fr; M° Opèra) to distinguish it from the new opera house at the Bastile. Constructed between 1865 and 1872 as part of Napolèon III vision for Paris, it crowns the avenue de l'Opèra, which was deliberately kept free of trees in order not to mask views of the building. The architect, Charles Garnier, whose golden bust by Carpeaux can be seen on the rue Auber side, was a relative unknown, determined to make his mark with something original. Drawing on a number of existing styles, he succeeded in creating a magnificently ornate building the like of which Paris had never seen before – when the Empress Eugènie asked in bewilderment what style it was, Garnier replied that it was “Napolèon III style”. Certainly, if any building can be said to exemplify the Second Empire, it is this – in its show of wealth and hint of vulgarity. In the event, however, it was only completed in 1875 after the Empire had been swept away by the Third Republic, and even Garnier had to pay for his ticket on the opening night. Part of the reason construction took so long – fourteen years in all – was the discovery of a water table which had to be drained and replaced by a huge concrete well, giving rise to the legend of an underground lake, popularized by Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera.
The theatre's facade is fairy-tale concoction of white, pink and green marble, colonnades, rearing horses, winged angels and gleaming gold busts of composers. The group sculpture on the right of the entrance, Carpeaux's La Danse, caused a stir on unveiling for its frank sensuality; one outraged protestor went as far as to throw black ink over the fleshy thigh of the female nude dancer.
The opulent interior, with its spacious, gilded-marble and mirrored lobbies, was intended to give Second Empire society suitably grand spaces in which to meet and be seen. The auditorium itself is all red velvet and gold leaf, hung with a six-tonne chandelier; the colourful ceiling was painted by Chagall in 1964 and depicts scenes from well-known operas and ballets jumbled up with famous Parisian landmarks. You can visit the interior (daily 10am-5pm; €8), including the auditorium – as long as there are no rehearsals; your best chance is between 1 and 2pm. The entry ticket includes the Bibliotheque-Musee de l'Opera, containing model sets, dreadful nineteenth-century paintings, and rather better temporary exhibitions on operatic themes. Amid the postcards and memorabilia in the shop is one of the city's most unusual souvenirs – honey collected from hives kept by former backstage worker Jean Paucton on the vast copper and zinc roof of the opera house; his 125,000 bees seek out nectar from parks, cemeteries and window boxes and produce up to 300kg of honey a year.
On the west side of the Opèra, at 11 bis rue Scribe, is the Paris-Story multi-media show (daily with shows on the hour 10am-6pm; €6; M° Opèra), a partial and highly romanticized history of Paris “narrated” by Victor Hugo, with simultaneous translation in English. The fifty-minute film uses a kaleidoscope of computer-generated images and archive footage, set against a luscious classical-music soundtrack. You probably won't learn much you didn't already know, but it's quite enjoyable all the same.
Just to the north, on boulevard Haussmann, you'll find two of the city's big department stores, Printemps and Galeries Lafayette (M° Chausèe d'Antin/havre Caumartin). Built in the latter half of the nineteenth century, they may have lost their grand central staircases, but they still sport their proud fin-de-siècle stained-glass domes. Printemps' dome is particularly splendid, coloured in glowing hues of green and blue, best appreciated from the brasserie beneath. Following in the stores' wake, a number of banks were built in the area. The Crèdit Lyonnais at 19 boulevard des Italiens, south of boulevard Haussmann, is perhaps the most imposing, with its huge gold clock flanked by gigantic caryatids. Across the road at no.20 the Banque Nationale de Paris occupies another striking building, with gilded wrought-iron balconies and finely sculptured friezes depicting hunting scenes. It used to be the Maison Dorèe, a restaurant from the 1840s, where you might have bumped into Balzac, Hugo, Flaubert and Nerval, among other literary figures. At no. 16 is the bank's main building – a sleek 1930s Art Deco edifice. As you cross over rue Laffitte to reach it, you get a wonderful view of Notre Dame de Lorette, with the Sacrè Coeur rearing up in the background.
