Une nuit à l'Opéra

Actually the ballet.............. the Opera Garnier is raved about by all who have been. Rather than go on a day time tour we have had our hearts set on going to a performance. There are 2 performances this week. I go online and the site says all internet ticket are sold out for the production Cendrillon. Do I interpret this to mean that there are still seats available but not through the internet, or is it sold out?

I make a special trip into the Opera house to try and buy some tickets. A short cue at the box office - good; a sign posted prominently Cendrillon complete tous jours - bad. I've come this far I might as well ask. I hear the American ahead of me sucessfully purchase 4 tickets for Wednesday. My turn and yes, we can have four tickets in the first (2) and second(2) rows on the side, being top price tickets (A reserve). I had more inmind the E7 tickets in the gods; non monsieur this is all that is available. I bite the bullet and decide to buy the tickets which are more reasonable than Van Morrison at the Olympia (B reserve).

Our night at the Ballet lives up to expectation. The venue is absolutely stunning. The ballet "Cendrillon" by Rudolf Noureev which is loosely based upon the story of Cinderella, set in Hollywood, is fantastic. The Stepmother is played by a male but the bigger change is that the fairy godmother is also a man - in this version the part of the godmother is a talent spotter looking for a new star for the prince charming director. Execeptonal.

Philip doesn’t fall asleep – must have been special.

A month already

It seems incredible that a month has already passed. We have seen many changes particularly in the last week with another burst of warm sunny weather. The trees are no longer skeletons and each day more and more green foliage accumulates. The parks are full of flowers and the birds are singing.

People ask us what we have been doing and its hard to say precisely. We've been constantly busy and enjoying our time.

We've explored many of the arrondissements; some we need to go back to and others are still to discover.

There's been some new museums. Musée du Quai Branly, a new museum of indigenous art. In presentation and content it is stunning. The Palais de Tokyo. A great surprise. This Musée has modern temporary exhibitions most of which feature installations. And the free permanent exhibitions at the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris.




In addition to exploring Paris with our feet and eyes, our stomachs have also been delighting in Paris discovery. At both ends of the scale we've had finds - from local brasserie and bistro 'plat du jour' and some star rated restaurants with a fixed price lunch menu for less than the price of one dish at night.