Exploring Paris

Day  12: Walking in the 1st and 2nd, Canal St. Martin, and the opera

My favorite guide for Paris is the Blue Guide. It's heavy but so comprehensive! With 6 full days, we figured we'd take advantage and just wander one day.  That was today.

Without any place to be at any specific time, we woke up late, had breakfast, then caught the metro to Palais Royal-Musee du Louvre to start our Blue Guide walk: Around Palais Royal.

We followed the walk pretty closely but the Palais Royal was closed for a strike so we couldn't wander around the columns or cut through into the garden off Rue Montpensier.

Fontaine Moliere

 

Jardin du Palais Royal

Coeur de Honour

We had to get macarons!

Looks delicious!

We got to Square Louvois which is a pretty little park surrounded by gorgeous Haussmann buildings. I'd love to live anywhere around here!

The Square Louvois was established in 1830 and is an oasis on rue Richlieu.  The Louvois fountain is just gorgeous. The 4 statues of women represent the four major rivers of France: the Seine, the Garonne, the Loire, and the Saone.

The other reason I'd love to live around here is because the Biblioteque national de France, Richelieu, is here.  The biblioteque was recently restored and is just gorgeous.  You enter the beautiful courtyard after a security check and can then look into the spectacular Richelieu reading room.  Many people were in there working but tourists could gawk and take pictures at the entrance.  I loved it.

Behind the door is the Richelieu reading roor

 

We headed out to continue our walk.  Around the corner we could see that the restoration work was not quite done.

I'm slightly obsessed with blue doors

We continued the walk and made our way to the Palais de la Bourse.  It's on a little square that was taken over by food vendors--everything looked and smelled delicious.  I also feel in love with the buildings in this area--I'm not that picky; I'd live here!

Palais de la Bourse

The walk next took us to Notre Dame de Victoires.  The church is covered in ex-voto tablets. Wikipedia says "An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ex voto suscepto, "from the vow made") or in gratitude or devotion."  The church filled up with the faithful for 1230pm mass and it was nice to see the parish was still quite active.

The circular Place des Victoires from 1685 has a statue of Louis XIV on horseback. It's a really pretty square.

We passed by the Banque de France (and thought about returning there on the Journees de Patrimoine for a tour), and the Vero-Dodat arcade, thought about grabbing lunch somewhere but decided to head out to Canal St. Martin so headed to the metro where'd we started our morning.  It was a great little walk in a beautiful area of Paris that we hand't previously explored.

Not sure what this cool building was

The metro is so easy! We arrived at Riquet and walked down to the Canal.  We aimed for Paname; we'd read it was a brewery that served decent food.  The weather changed--rain came down as we walked there.  We noticed the prices listed at restaurants we passed were significantly lower than in the 1st or 2nd.

As we finished our decent lunch and very tasty beers, the rain poured down.  We hung out awhile then popped into the Eglise St. Jacques before making out way to the metro and up to Parc de la Villete to visit the Cite des Sciences et de l'industrie museum.

The museum was free with our pass but it would be worth the admission price for anyone interested in how things work. The collection is really extensive. I particularly liked the space displays.  We also had fun inserting our face on a rolling display.

We headed back to our apartment so I could get ready for my date with Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte at the Opera Garnier!

On two previous trips we'd tried to tour the Opera Garnier without success, it was either closed or the auditorium was dark. To avoid more disappointment, I figured having tickets to a performance guaranteed me admission to the auditorium.  Husband was so not interested in the opera and was content to spend his time wandering Paris instead.  The ticket was pricey, the box was stiffligly hot and, in the second half, I had a huge head obstructing my view.  In general, I did not like the staging of the opera--it was very non-traditional.  There were two artists per part: a vocalist and a mirror dancer who was supposed to be interpreting the emotions behind the words.  The dancing was so simple that a child could do it and all of the artists did basically the same things.  BUT-the music and singing were outstanding. In the second act, I basically closed my eyes and let my ears transport me heavenward.

I cannot describe how beautiful the building itself is.  I took tons of pictures (iphone) and just walked about everywhere before the opera started and during intermission.  We were at the Vienna Opera in December and I would be hard pressed to say which one I liked more.  What a setting! The Chagall ceiling shouldn't work with this Baroque decor but it's perfect.  I loved it all! I still want to take a tour of the building but won't be as disappointed if, at the time, the "auditorium is dark."

Such a great view when ascending from the Metro

Two of my favorite things: Champagne and L'Opera Garnier!

Husband met me at the end of the performance.  He had spent most of his time at Earth K bar so we headed back there for a couple of drinks and guacamole and chips to end our night.  After I described my evening, particularly how hot it was in the box, he was glad to have missed it. :)

What a wonderful day in Paris!

Takeaways:

1.  We need to win the lottery and buy a place on rue Richelieu

2.  So glad we could view the Biblioteque national de France's Richelieu reading room

3.  One could probably save a lot of money by staying and eating in the Canal St. Martin area
4.  Cite des Sciences et de l'industrie museum is worth the time
5.  The Opera Garnier exceeded my (massive) expectations but I prefer my opera staged more traditionally
6.  I love Paris!

Next: Pretty things, lunch with a friend, and belly laughs