We had a lazy morning today! Slept late, took a walk around the neighborhood in another direction. It's raining AGAIN and supposed to continue all day. So, we strolled back to the Trocadero and tried our third cafe for coffee and breakfast. As in all of the cafes in the Trocadero, delicious fresh squeezed orange juice is served with a breakfast. My croissant was delicious as was Peter's ham and eggs. We spent a lot of time deciding what to do today in the rain.....probably not a lot of walking!!!
Since we're going to the Marais district for dinner and a concert, we decided to hop on the Metro (one stop to change lines) and go to the Opera Garnier which we had seen from the terrace at Printemps department store. After touring the opera house, we'll get back on the Metro and head (with one change) to the St Paul stop in the Marais. After long showers and rest time, off we went, about 2, still in the rain, to the Metro station at Trocadero.
The Opera Garnier is fabulous! It is considered one of the world's most beautiful theatres! The facade is classically inspired and is a celebration of Opera with bronze busts of famous composers. The Grand Staircase is just that...GRAND! Columns, statues, chandeliers and different colors of marble, the place for the elite of Paris to be seen! From a box seat we looked down on the the 2000 red velvet seats and then up at Marc Chagall's colorful ceiling dancing around the 8 ton chandelier. Opulence galore surrounded by reception rooms with 24 carat gold statues, archives, infinity mirrors and more WOW!!
Back on the Metro, we traveled to the Marais district, spent a few minutes in a former convent now a Unified Protestant Church speaking with a church member. Then proceeded to the Place Ste. Catherine where we dined sumptuously on a traditional French dinner from onion soup to creme brûlée afterwards attended a concert given by the Alegria String Sextet that played Vivaldi's Four Seasons and then featured a soprano singing sacred music including the Ave Maria that Bea sang at our wedding and Panis Angelicus, my mother's favorite. Fabulous acoustics! All of this is part of a birthday present to Connie from her "kids!" At the restaurant, the clientele were ALL native Parisiens, a lot of them young people. A conversation with those at the next table revealed they were unsure about voting tomorrow! The concert took place in a 17th century church, Eglise St. Paul-St. Louis, where we saw enormous clam shells that were fonts for holy water given to the church by Victor Hugo on the occasion of his daughter's wedding. We sat in the front row!
Once again we Ubered home, marveled at the Eiffel Tower all lit up, arrived home and crashed!
1 comment:
Media here says Macron favored to win and light turnout so far. Big deal is being made of the fact that his wife is 25 years older and how they met when he was a 15 year old student of hers.I find it intriguing and liberating myself. Speaking of elections, curious to know if you have been asked much about Trump or if the locals have shared their views on Trump w/you. Enjoy your last day and here's to a safe and uneventful trip home. I didn't realize the kids gave you the trip as a gift - how special!
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