Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Grand Palais, Opéra Garnier, and Ladurée


I had the classiest day ever (at least I tried to). We looked at art at the Grand Palais, Keri and I enjoyed Ladurée, then the two of us headed to see Julius Caesar at the Opéra Garnier.
Oh hey, Michael Cera....

At the Grand Palais, Michael Cera showed up. We looked at a couple pieces together, which was memorable, but It's difficult to look at art normally next to someone famous. It was distracting and I felt super creepy. Because he was there, I was consciously not interacting with the pieces the same way. Eventually, I skipped a couple rooms so I wouldn't be in the same room as Michael Cera and could try to look at the work normally. Because he was there, I will always associate Dynamo and the Grand Palais with him, not the art inside.

After the exhibit, Keri and I headed to Ladurée, which I have been wanting to go to the entire time I've been in Paris. I had champagne and macaroons and accidentally ordered a lemon tart. We took pictures and couldn't understand our waiter, so we probably weren't as classy as the rest of the champagne bar patrons.

After Ladurée, we headed to the Opera! We had really nice seats in a box that we shared with just a few other people (maybe 13 total). The box had locked doors which had to be unlocked for the people inside-it felt very exclusive. The opera itself was very different than the others I've seen. Instead of being in a classical setting, it was in the warehouse of a museum and the ancient characters interacted with the modern set. There were modern characters too, the museum workers changed the set and brought out props. Most of the time, they didn't interact with the ancient characters but if they did, they were minor, in groups, and always silent. Because the set didn't change much, the scenes and identities of the characters were dependent of the museum artifacts they were near. It was a huge change from the operas I've seen, but once I got used to it, it was very enjoyable.
Again, I wasn't quite as classy as I was hoping to be. Throughout the show I was figiting more than a ten-year-old, my stockings ripped, and I got some Ladurée tart in my hair. It's impossible for me classy in Paris.  If I leave out a few details, it sounds great.

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