25 June

Going to sneak in one more post for today as just back from the opera and did not want to forget. Saw  La Cenerentola at the Palais Garnier. ( Cinderella). Opera is by Rossini so lots of lovely music- recognised a lot from Barber of Seville and General Rossini craziness. The Palais Garnier would probably be the most opulent opera house I have been in. Marble, gold, statues everywhere you look. We ended up with a very good view- downstairs about one third of the way back. The stage is huge- read it is the biggest in Europe- over 400 people can apparently be on stage. The gold leaf everywhere and opulence reminded me of the palaces in St Petersburgh. They called it Russian Baroque so I guess this is French baroque.

The production was not the best I have ever seen of a Rossini opera. The staging was ridiculous. The singers had to walk over this somewhat slippery looking rough terrain complete with a trench in the middle. Mind you have also seen some equally crazy stages in Sydney. Enjoyed the singing. The performers were Italian, French, Spanish and Swiss- Belgian. The 'prince' ( Juan Jose De Leon) has sang in the Barber of Seville in Australia. Cinderella also had a very good voice- Teresa Iervolino. I have never seen the opera before and just read a synopsis- aside from the staging, the rest of the production looks to have been pretty faithful to the synopsis. Very enjoyable- even just sitting in the auditorium looking around at the decor and audience was a great experience.

Getting worried I'm becoming too knowledgeable. I quite rightly it turned out explained to SA that the ceiling in the auditorium looked like Chagall and the building looked 1870's with much baroque architecture being evident. Evidentially I have too much time on my hands. Dinner afterwards was in a street called Rue Montorgueil- full of  restaurants, cafes, bakeries etc. SA and I know this street from past trips. It's very lively and Will and SA have been known to purchase the odd chocolate here. Place was packed. People everywhere. Saw a few police around - including at the opera house but not overly evident where we have been so far.