Explore Paris: The Opera Area

Paris, full of medieval architecture and revolutionary history, is also a classy modern city, with wealthy bankers and other businessmen during the day and glamorous theatre goers by night. The center for both of those activities is the area surrounding the Opera Garnier, just a bit north of the Louvre on the Right Bank of the Seine. This is also the main center of Haussmann's 19th-century renovations of the city, leaving elegant neoclassical landmarks surrounded by wide boulevards and elegant yet uniform building fronts. Naturally, we started our visit to this upscale area with our first trip to the Paris-streets public restrooms, and I had to document it:

Surprisingly, these things are really very clean and sanitary, for the record. ;-) We then walked by the Palais de la Bourse, the former home of the stock exchange (until 1987) and the current home of the futures and traded options markets:

We passed many other office-building-type structures, including this one whose iron framework was designed by none other than Mr. Eiffel himself (yes, the same one that designed that little tower across the river, of which you have probably heard):

Since this area was designed (and rebuilt almost entirely) during the height of Napoleon III's renovations for the city, it has many features native to that time period, including chic indoor shopping galleries, such as the Galerie Vivienne:

Far more aristocratic feeling than our modern-day shopping malls, these galleries nonetheless house a similar crowd of every-day shoppers enjoying their lunch hour:

But in a beautiful setting:

And, unlike most modern-day shopping malls, some of the stores have fascinating antique items, such as these two stores that offered beautiful old letters, globes, and maps for sale:

Outside the shopping galleries, there is still plenty of entertainment in this business center. Although the Opera Garnier is the crown jewel of baroque architecture and elegance, another, smaller building in the area, the Opera Comique, is a favorite for locals to visit during their lunch hour. The steps out front offer a perfect place to rest and enjoy a baguette or quiche on a beautiful spring day:

And, as per Haussmann's plans, there are some beautiful parks and green spaces intermixed with the buildlings. This one, Square Louvois, is home to a beautiful and extravagant fountain designed by Visconti:

Finally, we finished our walk at the Opera Garnier, a theatre still used for ballets and some operas, though the ultra-modern steel and glass Opera de la Bastille has replaced this building as the main opera house of Paris. I find that the ridiculous advertisements parading in front of the building only increase its impressive stature as a Parisian landmark:

And, since this is the heart of Haussmann renovations, I had to share Keeley's wonderful explanation of the traditional Haussmann building. This particular one happens to face the Opera Garnier, but buildings just like this are all over Paris, and most of the buildings erected any time from about 1850 (the start of his renovations) until 1920 mimic this style (including my own apartment, which was built in 1905). These buildings make up more than half of Paris' architecture. One more interesting note about true Haussmann buildings (those built before about 1880) is that the 2nd floor (European style, what we would call the 3rd floor in the US) is the most elegant place to live. notice in this picture that that floor not only has a lovely, substantial balcony, but its ceilings are actually a bit taller than the other floors. Why was the 2nd floor considered the ritziest place to be? Think about it... No one wants to live right above a shop, but elevators were not put into use until the late 1800's. How many flights of stairs do you want to climb up every day?

And finally, our walk would not be complete if I didn't include our visit to the classy department stores: Galleries Lafayette and Printemps, just around the corner from the Opera Garnier. To my joy, we found a smoothie stand in Printemps, and I thoroughly enjoyed my little treat while we waited for the metro to head to our next destination: