Better than the Moulin Rouge, better than Lido, it’s the Paris Ballet.

Today’s blog is going to be short on words since it’s Sunday and I’m spent. Ask me how I sleep here in Paris. Go ahead. Well let me tell you, it sucks. The bed is okay, but it’s certainly not a luxury bed. The pillows are feather pillows and not nearly puffy enough, and the noise all night long is ridiculous. It’s funny because just a few years ago we stayed above a bar that hopped and made noise all night and didn’t have this problem. I guess it’s true the older you get the lighter you sleep. Regardless, I’m tired. Jason and I kept waking up all night long and we decided around 8 a.m. that we’d watch some TV and go back to sleep. We ended up getting up just in time to get ready for our big trip to the Opéra Garnier to see the Paris Ballet. My parents bought us tickets for our anniversary way back in October. The building is amazing. Built for Napoleon, it is of course grand with sculptures, marble, gold and red velvet seats. As a side note, the seats were horribly uncomfortable and are so close together that you get a knee in the back and a foot in the arse, but you can't complain because you’re doing the same to the person in front of you.

This is the opera house that Phantom of the Opera was based off of... what do you think of that chandelier?

In the nose bleed seats but I'm positive there isn't a bad seat in the hosue.

The ballet itself was quite amazing as well. I have to tell you I never in a million years thought I’d be able to say I saw the ballet in Paris. When I first decided this was something we had to do on this trip, I was originally imagining very classical ballets with elaborate costumes. But turns out while we’re here, those ballets are happening at the new opera house, which just didn’t have the history and allure that this one did, so we decided that a Balanchine ballet in the Palais Garnier was well worth the investment. First up was Apollon choreographed by George Balachine. It was beautiful and simple with a plain blue background and simple pure white costumes. Next was O złożony / O Composite, and it blew me away. The dance was unlike anything I’d seen before, and the music really complemented the performance. There was speaking in the music that was in Polish; we couldn’t understand any of it, but it was neat. Finally we had a brief intermission that ended up costing us 5€ for a drink, and before we knew it, it was time to head back into the auditorium. We were really intrigued by the addition of dirt to the middle of the stage for the last performance, Le Sacre de printemps. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, although I was sure it was going to be a modern dance of sorts. I have seen some components of the Rite of Spring but this was by far the most intense dance I have ever experienced. You can watch some YouTube video footage by clicking the links also here is another link to another part of Le Sacre de Printemps. I can tell you watcgubg these videos can'compare to the live performance. I don't have any live pictures since we couldn't take pictures during their dance but I took a couple during bows.

Dirt floor

Following the ballet we were planning on going into a couple of stores, but it’s Sunday and everything closes early, so we walked around a bit and came home.