29 Dec - I wake up at a more normal hour and am feeling sluggish. Jet Lag backlash perhaps? But I manage to get myself out the door and call ParisWalks to find out if there%26#39;s still room for me to tag along on the Opera Garnier tour this morning. I call and am assured there is no problem, no reservations needed. But first things first, I have managed to use all the space on my camera%26#39;s media card at the Star Wars expo. It was only 256mb but the 1GB card I ordered didn%26#39;t arrive in time for my trip. I decided to head back to my trusty Bl. St Germain FNAC and get a photo CD made, it takes all of 10 minutes and only cost 4,10€. I%26#39;m feeling ridiculously capable and independent for someone who only managed to get a CD made.
I zip onto the metro (I am seriously in love with the metro system at this point. It%26#39;s becoming unnatural) and head over to the Garnier for the tour. I come up out of the station and am facing a traffic circle. I%26#39;ve never been in this area and all my independence starts to waver. Then I turn around and the facade to the Opera hits me full on. Speechless I join the rest of my tourist friends and start taking pictures. Just entering the ticket lobby is dazzling. I get my ticket, standing in line next to a very charming elderly Englishman and his friend. I don%26#39;t think she appreciated him chatting me up and she contradicts everything I say in an upper-crusty french accent. After asking a couple employees I find a group of people standing around and they are indeed the ParisWalks group. Oriel introduces herself and we begin. She%26#39;s worried that they are going to close the auditorium so we start there.
I don%26#39;t know enough adjectives to describe the main room. We view it from one of the box seats and all you can see is red velvet and gilt. It is one of the most opulent, posh places I have ever seen. Oriel points out all sorts of details, including the fact that the emperor%26#39;s box actually had a terrible view for watching the performance but is excellent for everyone to watch him. Throughout the tour she gives all sorts of juicy cultural history tidbits about high French society and the art of being seen. I also loved the Grand Salon and the former tea room. In the emperor%26#39;s former private entrance there is Christian Lacroix%26#39;s %26quot;Rouge%26quot; exhibition of costumes from the 18th - 21st century. I%26#39;ve never known much about him other than Edina on Absolutely Fabulous coveting his work. I don%26#39;t want to go on too much about the opera house because I don%26#39;t want to spoil the surprise. All I can say is, put it on your %26quot;A-list%26quot; if you haven%26#39;t already been.
By this time it%26#39;s nearly 1:30. Which means we got a 2 1/2 hour tour for 10€ from Oriel and ParisWalks. Quite the value. I duck in across the street at L%26#39;Entracte for lunch. Veal with parmesean polenta and a café to follow for only 20€. But by now I%26#39;m worried about running short on time. Perhaps my itinerary is too ambitious? I cross a couple things off my list and make my way to the Eglise Madeline. I have to say it%26#39;s not my favorite church in Paris but I did take the time to sit and relax a bit. Truth is I%26#39;m feeling exhausted for some reason. I%26#39;d go back to the room for a nap but that means I%26#39;d have to make the hike from the metro twice. So I gather myself up and make a quick stop into the famous Madeline Toilettes.
I had also wanted to see the Champs Elysses Sephora store. HUGE mistake. HORRIBLE waste of time. The street was a zoo and the store was so thick with perfume I couldn%26#39;t breathe. I quickly left and went to my next destination, the Carnavalet museum. I get a bit lost having never been to the Marais before with it%26#39;s little streets. Either I look more sure than I feel or I%26#39;m merely approachable because a guy asks me in French which direction the Seine is. Too bad I can%26#39;t tell him. I finally make it to the museum 45 minutes before they%26#39;re going to close. But frankly, I could have skipped it. It was a lot of pretty furniture which I%26#39;m sure has more signifcance than I realized but it just wasn%26#39;t my thing. Again, maybe if I had a better understanding of French history I%26#39;d have a greater appreciation. But it%26#39;s time to head for the 6th to see St. Sulpice, some dinner and then the evening%26#39;s entertainment. This will take me thru the Chatelet station again and I think I must be mad until I get off the train and hear music, a lovely strings ensemble. I listen a few moments and am strangely revitalized (or maybe it%26#39;s just a second wind finally kicking in.)
St. Sulpice is very pretty. I%26#39;m sure it%26#39;s sacreligious but it occurs to me that I prefer their Pieta to Michelangelo%26#39;s at the Vatican. I also see the Rose Line, probably only generally known because of %26quot;that book%26quot; and I wonder why there is a line tracing the path of the solstice in a Catholic church. It seems so pagan. I can%26#39;t even remember the pseudo-explanation in the book. (After checking online the most plausible is that it was to determine the exact date of Easter.)
I check my watch and have just enough time for dinner before I have to be at St. Germain des Pres. I start walking generally north and stop at Santa Lucia Pizza because the menu looks good. I go in despite the total lack of any other customers (TA warning bells going off.) I needn%26#39;t have worried. By the time my entree arrived it was half full, by the time I leave you couldn%26#39;t get a table and they turned away a party of six. The restaurant is in a charming old building with exposed beams and an twisty old staircase up to the second floor. Every time the waiter pounded up or down I thought it would collapse. The best part was watching the older waiter at the anti-pasta table sneak bites of this and that.
Time to go, tonight is the Les Archets concert at St. Germain des Pres. They don%26#39;t play anything unusual: Pachbel%26#39;s Cannon, Vivaldi%26#39;s Four Seasons, Mozart%26#39;s Night Music and Adagio by Alinoni. But the music is divine, no pun intended. They have 2 CD%26#39;s on sale after and I buy both, not knowing they are being signed by the director of the group. I was also able to speak with two of the performers briefly and tell them how much I enjoyed their music.
Still floating on the waves of music I make my way back to the hotel. And then it happens, I%26#39;m hit on by cheesey swarthy guy. Not paying attention I didn%26#39;t see the %26quot;walk%26quot; signal and was just standing there so he points out it%26#39;s time to go. And keeps talking. And keeps talking. And talking. And walking the same way I%26#39;m going. Am I here for vacation? How long am I staying? WHERE am I staying? He lives right in this area. At this point I wasn%26#39;t sure if he was just friendly but then he asked the $64 question: am I here alone? And then I realize how un-French I am. In order not to hurt the feelings of some random guy, I make up the fake boyfriend who is upstairs with a stomach ache. I go up to my room (yes, ALONE!) and wonder what French women do to ditch these guys. It%26#39;s a mystery for another day as I%26#39;m exhausted and fall right to sleep. My trip is half over and I still have so much to see...
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Great report!
And I%26#39;ll just bet that guy asking where the Seine is was trying to pick you up too.
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%26lt;wonder what French women do to ditch these guys.%26gt; exactly the same thing you did! :-)
take care.
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To ditch them? I don%26#39;t open my mouth, pretend not to hear or not to speak any French.
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Grace-
Same thing happened to me when I went alone in May. I made up the same story as it started to get a bit creepy at that point! Glad you had a good time!
Robin
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Same thing has happen to me on my travels in Paris... Creepy... One guy a little twerp running up the escalator tried to approach me several times on my way shopping!
They always are dressed in suits too! Except for one guy at the cemetary tried to kiss me.... ugh.. got me running away fast!!!
it is hard not to be polite when some one addresses you but it seems to put one in difficult situations when one does answer.
I enjoy your trip reports I am looking for #2 to read.
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Grace, I%26#39;m really enjoying your travel update -- it%26#39;s taking me back to my trip to Paris last fall. And you have convinced me to put the Opera House on my next trip in March! I had a guy follow me into a bar on rue de la Huchette -- he claimed I said bon soir to him on the street. I must have said bon soir, thinking he was one of the restaurant owners who stand outside trying to lure you in. Anyway, he said he was going back to his house to get money and would I wait until he got back. That was my opportunity to say I was tired and going back to my hotel. When he left, I went to another bar and met some fabulous people! I%26#39;ve had creepy men in the U.S. ask me where I live and, impolite or not -- I would never tell them where I live or the hotel where I%26#39;m staying, no matter which country I%26#39;m in! Look forward to more updates from you, and good luck warding off the creepy guys!
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