A Night At the Opera (at the Opera)

After Saint Chapelle, Gina and I took the metro to the Opera Bastille to watch a performance of "Louise", which is a reinterpretation of La Traviata. We got there a little early, so we went walking around the Bastille neighborhood for a while we waited for the rest.

The opera is housed in a modern structure, built circa late 80's I would say, and it totally looks it.

The inside is not much better. It's a little bit of a mess, with stairs that only go up one flight leaving you stranded, mini-levels on each floor, and no artwork or decorations on the walls save for one lone Nikki de St. Phalle sculpture, which is so colorful and lively it looks like it wandered in from somewhere actually fun and couldn't get back out.

The opera itself was a mixed bag. The sets were amazing, the actual piece not. I, because I thrive on consistency, kept falling asleep. The first act was two hours, so we left during the intermission and left Louise to her fate (which, with this being an opera, I assume was death).

The best part was that there were nuns sitting next to us. For a country whose citizens insist they're not interested in religion, they're everywhere. I am working on a theory that there is a nun in every building and place of interest in Paris. You probably get a nun toy in your happy meal at McDonald's.

A Night At the Ballet (in the Opera)

Last night we went to the opera to see a performance of the ballet La Dame Aux Camellias at the Opera Garnier. I was originally slated to go see a symphony, but since tickets were unavailable, I threw on a foulard and the one shirt that was ironed and headed out.

We met with the rest of the program at the second dorm, on Rue Conde, and along with bunch of young girls wearing the slinkiest dresses Bebe can offer, we traipsed to the bus stop like a bunch of teens going to prom.

I had passed in front of the Opera de Paris Garnier earlier in the week and though the building was beautiful, I wasn't impressed by its busy shopping area location and pigeon-decorated statues. But once past the ticket guard and the search station, the interior of the building was just amazing.

You enter into a foyer and up the grand staircase to the second floor where you can look at the other attendees from one of the little balconies as they enter the building. From there you can walk behind the bar to some very ornate and intricate rooms with full on ceiling murals and rococo detailing, others with just rows of giant chandeliers, and some with mirrors placed for optimal optical impact. Someone mentioned that this venue was the inspiration for The Phantom of the Opera.

To watch the performance, I had to find my floor (the 6th), then the door to my balcony (porte 21), wait for an usher to unlock it, and then get my seat numbers (8). The tickets were very long. The seats were incredible as was the auditorium. I felt like I was in Amadeus, except that I was sitting with a girl called Ana from LA, had Professor Balir and two nuns in the balcony to my left, and I wasn't wearing a powdered wig. Everything was red velvet and gold, and the round area around the chandelier was painted into a beautiful mural by Chagall.

The performance itself was pretty awesome. The stage was very large (Prof. Blair mentioned that the stage is more than double the depth of a normal stage) and with the minimal stage sets, it looked even larger. The ballet was a re-telling of Camille, and it merged the original story with that of Manon Lescaut. Considering it's a tale about courtesans, I was still very surprised at the sexual content. I mean, ballet isn't the sexiest of dances usually (that would be Lambada, the forbidden dance), but there were trysts on carpets, dancers in flesh-colored body stockings cavorting on beds, and a lot of cleavage. And all this while on tip-toes.
Very enjoyable overall, as was watching the nuns trying to act blase and looking away whenever the action got too torrid or the plotline led to sexy results. I'm sure they weren't expecting an R-rated dance performance and one of the nuns looked particularly flustered during a particularly orgiastic pas de deux. Oh, and it was probably about 90-degrees, which made me slightly doze off. I would have probably fallen asleep completely, But I was afraid of falling over the railing and landing on the orchestra pit.

Three intermissions and a 15-minute standing ovation later, we headed home.

Port de Paris Arsenal

...we exited Place des Vosges into a very loud shopping street, completely unlike what was on the other side of the door. Once on the street, we walked down Rue St. Antoine towards the Place de la Bastille. Here, Patrice told me about the Column and the Bastille Opera, where I'll be going on Monday.

At this point, he said, "You no we 'ave a port in Paree yes? You don't beelieve me? I'll show you.". And indeed, a block away was the cutest little houseboat port with access to the Seine. The Port de Paris Arsenal.

Downstairs, there was an outdoor cafe, and after charmingly asking if I was "angry or thirsty" we sat down to enjoy some Coca Lights and watch the surprisingly large number of goth and skater kids who hang out on the pier.

After we finished, we walked down to Seine and inspected some of the houseboats along the way. Some where tiny and cubist, and others large enough to have cars on board (though who the hell knows where they drive them. Around the deck?). Then we exited through a tunnel into the walkway next to the Siene (and saw only two homeless people). From there, we walked to...

On the Bus

After class, I had moment. Tien-Chieh asked what I was doing this afternoon and if I wanted to hang out. So we set off on the bus, through the Pont Royal and into the courtyard of the Louvre's Palais Royal. And there I was, on a bus, speaking french-ish and looking out the window at the I.M. Pei pyramid. And it was very cool.

We ended up having cold soba noodles and some very french Starbuck's. Tien-Chieh is from Taiwan and is studying Interior Architecture at the Beux Arts starting in September. His dad is film director in Taiwan so we had a very good conversation about movies, the French, The Russian spy girl from class (who we just noticed has different-colored eyes), and art schools.

Then we walked up the Rue de la Paix, past the Opera de Paris Garnier, to H&M, where I realized my french must be getting better as I managed to get into an argument in the dressing room line with some guy who was trying to cut. Don't mess with me on the 4th of July!