{"id":26947,"date":"2017-05-17T13:08:41","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T11:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=26947"},"modified":"2017-05-17T13:08:41","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T11:08:41","slug":"music-at-the-opera-garnier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/music-at-the-opera-garnier\/","title":{"rendered":"Music At The Op\u00e9ra Garnier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that I am settled in<\/a> I have time to explore the sights and sounds of Paris. La ville lumi\u00e8re<\/strong> (the city of lights) is a massive international hub with history pouring out of every corner. Walking down any street can lead to amazing sights and new experiences.<\/p>\n

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L’Op\u00e9ra Garnier<\/a> by Peter Rivera on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.<\/p><\/div>\n

L\u2019autre jour<\/strong> (the other day), I was walking around le quartier Gaillon<\/em> <\/strong>(the Gaillon quarter) and decided to take a look at the famous op\u00e9ra Garnier<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I only knew about l’Op\u00e9ra<\/strong> because of l\u2019arr\u00eat de m\u00e9tro<\/strong> (the subway stop) and had never gone out of my way to visiter<\/strong> (visit). Since I had the time, I decided to learn l’histoire<\/a> de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra<\/strong> (the history of the Opera) and finally see l’\u00e9difice<\/strong> (the building).<\/p>\n

L’histoire de l’Op\u00e9ra <\/strong>begins with Napol\u00e9on III<\/strong> who decided to create a new \u00ab\u00a0Academie imperial de musique et de danse<\/strong>\u00a0\u00bb (Imperial Academy of Dance and Music) after un attentat<\/strong> (an attack) in 1858 nearly took his life at the old Op\u00e9ra de Paris<\/strong>. Napol\u00e9on III <\/strong>held un concours<\/strong> (a competition) to see who could come up with the best design for le nouvel op\u00e9ra<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Charles Garnier<\/em> is l’architecte fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> (the French architect) who won le concours<\/strong>, and even though the entrants were anonymous, la devise<\/strong> (the motto) that Charles put on his design may have helped give him an advantage:<\/p>\n

J\u2019aspire \u00e0 beaucoup, j\u2019attends peu<\/strong>
\nI aspire to a lot, I wait for little<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

L’\u00e9difice<\/strong> was known as l\u2019Op\u00e9ra de Paris<\/strong> for most of its existence, but in 1989 un nouvel op\u00e9ra <\/strong>opened \u00e0 Paris<\/strong>, l\u2019op\u00e9ra Bastille<\/strong>. In order to avoid confusion, the older structure has since been referred to as l\u2019op\u00e9ra Garnier<\/strong> or palais Garnier<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

L\u2019op\u00e9ra Garnier<\/strong> is located<\/a> la place de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra<\/strong>, a public square en face de<\/strong> (in front of) l\u2019op\u00e9ra<\/strong>. From les marches de <\/strong>l\u2019Op\u00e9ra<\/strong> (the steps of the Op\u00e9ra) you get a nice view of la place de l’Op\u00e9ra<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Place de l’Op\u00e9ra<\/a> by Zoetnet on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.<\/p><\/div>\n

Malheureusement<\/strong> (unfortunately), it was already too late when I visited and l’Op\u00e9ra<\/strong> was closed, but I still wanted to explore. I noticed a crowd on les marches de l’op\u00e9ra <\/strong>and decided to see why everyone was gathering there. There was un musicien des rues<\/strong> (a busker) playing for the crowd at la place de l’op\u00e9ra<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

De plus<\/strong> (what\u2019s more), le musicien<\/strong> was catering to the international tourists. He played les chansons fran\u00e7aises<\/strong><\/a> (French songs) and invited people from the audience to sing songs with him. Amazingly he knew popular songs from nearly every country and could even sing them in the right languages for les touristes<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Dans l’ensemble<\/strong> (all in all), it was a fun way to experience l’op\u00e9ra Garnier<\/strong>. I didn\u2019t get a chance to go inside l’Op\u00e9ra<\/strong>, but I was able to hear de la musique<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Now that I am settled in I have time to explore the sights and sounds of Paris. La ville lumi\u00e8re (the city of lights) is a massive international hub with history pouring out of every corner. Walking down any street can lead to amazing sights and new experiences. L\u2019autre jour (the other day), I was…<\/p>\n

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