#TravelTuesday Le Grand Foyer

Inside the Paris Opera House

Opulence. It’s a wonderful word. To me it’s more than just a synonym for great wealth or abundance or affluence. It’s a word that defines a brief era of humankind. In a time in the not so long past, there existed a slice of society that brought to life “opulence” during what is called in America the “Gilded Age”. From the Newport mansions in Rhode Island to Hearst Castle in California to the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, examples from this time of decadence appear infrequently in the western hemisphere, but in the great cities of Europe it’s easy to find examples of the beauty these places were intended to preserve.

To view the Paris Opera House is a lesson in opulence. Romance sweeps any observer off their feet. Rounding a corner and being met with the sight below is breathtaking. The intricacy of the carvings along the wall and the craftsmanship required to construct such a miraculous foyer beg the eyes to wander in delight and drink in the astonishing wonder. The care of the creation of each crystal in the chandeliers, the precision placement of each brush stroke on the ceiling, the deep rich warmth of the gold hugging the foyer is delightful. The doors to the left of the hall could spread themselves wide open to let in the “City of Light”. Paris was always at the door, flooding its way into the Grand Foyer of the Opera House, inviting the opulence outside, to fill the city with its magic and beauty.

Le Grand Foyer (1 of 1).jpg

Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 28mm f/8 ISO3200 1/60 sec

 

Under the Stairs

The entrance to the opera house in Paris is grand, as is the entrance to most theaters, but that’s not our subject for today. When a person attends the opera in Paris he/she enters to an opulent view of majesty and culture. Art abounds at every turn. Craftsmanship and care is evident in the recesses of carvings, the folds in sculptured stone garments, and the expressions on faces frozen in time.

When we arrived at the opera house the main entrance was closed so we meandered our way around the back and gained access near the box office. After purchasing a ticket to tour the building (I should really say “a small part of the building”) we walked into the grand entrance room from a direction most people would never see, unless they were returning from the lavatory. Beneath the main staircase, hidden from attendees above, is the sculpture pictured below.

It makes me wonder why it’s there. The work is beautiful. It is an integral part of the underside of a staircase, and it is also a work of art. It doesn’t look as if the artist thought of his creation as a second rate work or figured only a few people would see it and he could do just an average job on it. It’s something we’ve lost over time, and I don’t know what to call it. Just because there’s no need to make something beautiful doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be. Maybe people are just too impatient, or maybe the investment of time and craftsmanship isn’t honored enough by the almighty dollar to make it worthwhile.

Maybe I’m over thinking it, but I’m so glad fate led us to see it. It made a difference in my life.

​Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 32mm f/3.5 ISO3200 1/80 sec

Two image vertical panorama