But that aside, I never really finished describing my journey through Europe. After Amsterdam i went to... Paris, the city of lights and cheap romance movies. And ... everyone was nice. I don't speak a lick of French, and as you can tell by my many grammar mistakes on the blog (one day if I'm rich and famous, I'll get an editor), I'm not so great with English either. However, just a polite introduction with, "Excuse-moi, madame/monsieur, parle-vous Angles" opened quite a few doors. Peppering my speech with "Bonjour", "Excusez-moi", and "Merci" also helped, though it would have made me look incredibly pretentious anywhere else. I suppose it's my own fault to expect that people wouldn't take pity on me - unfashionable American with a terrible french accent who needs to hold out a map and ask for directions every 2 blocks. It may have been negligence to let me wander around without help, lost as I was.
Paris was actually one of the hardest places to traverse, due to the non-linear roads, way roads seemed to disappear, odd formations and turns, and of course, a fresh snow storm. I can brag I saw Paris in the snow... but that's also why i didn't see as much of it as I wanted to.
My first day involved spending way too much time at the Paris opera. For just 9 euros, I wandered the public areas to my heart's delight. I was a bit disappointed as a Phantom of the Opera phan that box 5 was not one of the boxes open to the public, but that made sense for two good reasons: 1) it was the last box on the right, so you'd get a pretty bad view of the theater during tours and 2) overzealous phans would probably do stupid things. I definitely would have. And while the theater was glorious, the foyer and galas were the most spectacular. On your way up the stairs,you were surrounded by golden statues and exquisite paintings of Greek gods. There were long halls with marvelous views of Paris outside, and incredibly beautiful paintings on the ceilings. I hadn't even been to the Louvre yet, and i was already blown away by Paris's art.
Next, of course, the Louvre. Well, actually, next was me getting lost in the mall under the Louvre. That'll be our next installment. Until then, enjoy some pictures.
The operahouse you visited looks just like the one where the 2004 Phantom of the Opera movie was filmed! I know the Opera Populaire was a fictitious building, but do you know if it was filmed in the Paris operahouse on-location?
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