Category Archives: Paris Walks

The Paris Opera, all you need to know

27 Sunday May 2018

Posted by in Paris Arts, Paris museums, Paris nightlife, Paris sidetrips, Paris tips, Paris travel, Paris Walks

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Palais-Garnier-Paris-Opera-House_1One of the fondest memories I have of my “student in Paris” days was attending performances at the Palais Garnier. Top tier and most of the time requiring opera glasses the experience was always magical.  If you’d like to visit the sumptuous building or are interested in any of L’Opera de Paris performances at a discount, here’s the insider lowdown:

Last-minute tickets

• €10 for seats with a limited view or no view of the stage at the Palais Garnier

Tickets for seats in the 6th category are only sold on the day of the performance at the box office of the Palais Garnier. These seats offer a limited view or no view of the stage depending on their location, however, tickets for them do provide access to the auditorium and allow the bearer to hear music played by a live orchestra and in some cases, catch a glimpse of what is happening on stage (with the possibility of getting a better view by standing when the seat is at the rear of a box).

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• €5 for a standing-room ticket in the circle of the Opéra Bastille

32 standing tickets are sold at 5€ each (category 10) at the Opera Bastille ticket offices (130 rue de Lyon – 75012 Paris) on the day of the performance: from 11:30 a.m. Monday to Saturday; and one hour prior to the performance on Sundays and bank holidays. Tickets are limited to two per person.

• Special reduced rates  Special reduced rates on last-minute tickets for an up-coming performance that are still available at the Paris Opera’s box offices 30 minutes prior to curtain-up:

For those under the age of 28 and the unemployed:

– €35 for a ticket to an opera.

– €25 for a ticket to a ballet or concert/recital.

– €10 for a ticket to a Sunday chamber music concert.

For senior citizens over the age of 65:

– €70 for a ticket to an opera.

– €40 for a ticket to a ballet or concert/recital.

– €15 for a ticket to a Sunday chamber music concert.

Not valid for Young People’s Avant-Premières, evenings for the Under 40s, or special evenings.

Discounted rates. Certain performances are subject to a 10% discount depending on the date: See prices.

Budget prices. Throughout the season, the Paris Opera offers performances at budget prices:

  • The programme of the Academy and chamber music concerts at the Amphithéâtre Bastille from €10 to €25 (depending on age),
  • Musical Middays at the Palais Garnier from €10 to €30 (depending on the seat category),
  • Concert-encounters at the Studio Bastille: €5.

France Paris French Opera Garnier Famous Building

Take an hour and twenty minute tour:  Your visit will begin with the “Rotonde des Abonnes” (Members’ Rotunda) which was formerly used to welcome the audience, and where you will be able to discover the unique signature of the architect Charles Garnier amongst the arabesques. 

The mysterious Prophetess Pythia will greet you before you take the majestic “Grand Escalier” (Main Staircase), which brings you to the auditorium, the lounges and the foyers. The abundant decor, the splendour of the various foyers and the variety of materials used will take your breath away. The numerous paintings and sculptures allow the Palais Garnier to be not only a theatre but also a museum at the same time.

Adult :

€15.50 per person

Child (-10years):

€8.50 per person

Student (-26years):

€11.00 per person

If you’re looking for some over-the-top splendor, love history as well as the arts, this downtown treasure is well worth the euros.  Did I mention the Chagall ceiling?

After your visit, consult your No Worries Paris guide for other things to do in the neighborhood. Printemps and Galeries Lafayette are just around the corner. Or try L’Opéra Restaurant. It’s built into the Palais Garnier opera house’s east facade.

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For what’s happening at the Bastille opera site go to: https://www.operadeparis.fr/en

FYI: For 1,000 euros you can adopt one of the Garnier’s red velvet plush seats. They’re going fast: https://fauteuils.operadeparis.fr/choisissez-un-fauteuil

Snow, rain, sunshine in Paris

18 Sunday Mar 2018

Posted by in Paris guide, Paris In The Rain, Paris photos, Paris tips, Paris travel, Paris Walks

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March weather can be iffy. If you’re planning to visit make sure you’re equipped for the chill. Bring a second pair of shoes, an umbrella, water repellant gear. You can wake up to sun and be drenched by 3 p.m.

When all else fails, duck into a cafe, or better yet, a place like Le Fumoir. You don’t even have to smoke, just chill and have a martini or two.

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Energized, head for the Picasso Museum, a safe dry elegant place and take it all in,  5 Rue de Thorigny, closes at 6.  

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Here’s the view from the back window. Another nice place to chill. Hope you get to see:

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Until next time. Hope you’re designing your own Paris itinerary with the city’s best walking guide, No Worries Paris. Merci!

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Flashback to one month ago

20 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by in Paris Fashion Week, Paris guide, Paris photos, Paris travel, Paris Walks

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Zipping around Paris taking in all the events, art exhibits, new restaurants, new attractions never gets tiring. It’s all the work when I arrive back home and have to update my Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Tumbler and blog accounts. Complaining, I’m not, it’s a gig many have told me they’re envious of. I understand. After many years as a graphic designer, secretary, stone mason, aerobic dance teacher, chocolate chip cookie baker, and photographer, life has just worked out that way.

While in Paris I had one minute of fame. Crawling the internet at night post Balmain show I came across the Vogue Magazine online site. Lo and behold there I was on point shooting one of the cognoscenti. Thank you staff photographer Phil Oh who included it in his “Best Street Photos from Paris Fashion Week.” It made my day, my year, though I guess that’s my ego speaking.

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Okay, enough about that. Time to get onboard and sell some books.  No Worries Paris is on the shelf at Powell’s Books.    Amazon.com too, of course or at www.trailblazertravelbooks.com. Thanks for giving it some consideration, it’s a pretty helpful walking guide to have along.

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I’m back! A little slice of Paris

17 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Paris Fashion Week, Paris guide, Paris photos, Paris shopping, Paris travel, Paris Walks, Paris Wanderings

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Take a walk with our No Worries Paris guide.  Get inspired, get with it.

 

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In Paris this summer? Celebrate Rodin.

14 Sunday May 2017

Posted by in Paris guide, Paris museums, Paris News, Paris tips, Paris travel, Paris Walks

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To mark the centenary of his death, the Musée Rodin and Réunion des musées nationaux Grand Palais are joining forces to celebrate Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). The exhibition reveals Rodin’s creative universe, his relationship with his audience and the way in which sculptors have appropriated his style.

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Featuring over 200 of Rodin’s works, it also includes sculptures and drawings by Bourdelle, Brancusi, Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti, Beuys, Baselitz and Gormley, shedding new light on this giant of sculpture.

Where: Grand Palais, Paris, France
Metro: Champs-Elysées Clémenceau (Lines 1, 13)

Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays from 10 am to 8 pm / Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 10 pm / Closed on Tuesdays

And if you’re looking for things to do after the show consult your No Worries Paris guide.

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“I literally read it cover to cover, which should be an indicator of its goodness. I really like this guide– it is detailed enough to provide weeks of new and exciting things to see, even for an extended stay.”  – J. A. Phillipi

 

Paris: an open book

09 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in French holidays, Paris guide, Paris museums, Paris photos, Paris tips, Paris travel, Paris Walks

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No Worries Paris, a photographic walking guide brings the city to life. A look inside:

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“So many memorable walks at our own pace. Good maps, directions,  and the accompanying text is concise enough to read while on the walk.”  

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“A great help for me to plan my trip. I’m glad I’m prepared for what’s in store in the next two weeks.”

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“We had four full days to spend in Paris in September. We had never been there and wanted to make the most of our time. We decided to use the No Worries Paris guide, and it was a very good decision.”

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“Everything was beyond amazing!! I will never travel to Paris without using this guide again. Especially loved walking tours through the neighborhoods of the Marais and Latin Quarter.”

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“The experience, sights and information provided by our NWP was first class. I would happily recommend reading it cover to cover before your stay.”

Illustrated by hundreds of color photographs, NO WORRIES PARIS takes readers on a visually luscious journey along the city’s striking monuments, as well as into crannies of its villages and the full-on glamour of the fashion districts. Virtually all of Paris is covered in 10 Walking Tours, each with its own map. Walks take from a half-day to a day to complete, starting at one Metro stop and ending at another. The tours are complemented by 10 Walk Arounds, which are shorter in length, taking in the sights of a single attraction more on the fringes of the city’s arrondissements.

Practical travel tips and get-around information is included. Newcomers will most likely want to begin with monumental strolls. Francophiles may choose something more edgy and out-of-the-way. The common thread is that each walk is along a visually aesthetic pathway that has a story of its own to tell. Readers who want to get to know Paris by seeing it on foot—pausing occasionally for a gourmet taste, park bench timeout or perfumed sniff along the way— have found the right book.

No Worries Paris is available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Powell’s Books,  directly through the publishers (signed + discount) at Trailblazer Travel Books as well as your friendly independent bookstores nationwide.

Paris March events: a dynamic duo

17 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in Paris museums, Paris News, Paris Walks

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With the arrival of spring in Paris, a rush of rousing museum events burst forth and this year is no exception. I’ll start with a show that is off-the-beaten track and very worth your time.

March 2-July 23

Musée Maillol will be hosting an exhibition bearing the same title as Anne Sinclair’s autobiography, 21 rue La Boétie (published in 2012). In the book, the well-known journalist describes the life of her grandfather Paul Rosenberg, one of the most influential art dealers of the 20th century. The book inspired this exhibition of around 60 masterpieces by great artists such as Picasso, Braque, Matisse, Léger and Marie Laurencin.

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Musée Maillol
59-61 rue de Grenelle – 75007 Paris

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March 14-June 25

Second on my hotlist is the Musée d’Orsay’s nature-themed exhibition with a mystical focus: Au-delà des étoiles. Le paysage mystique de Monet à Kandinsky  (Beyond the Stars. The Mystical Landscape from Monet to Kandinsky). It gives visitors an introduction to depictions of nature in paintings by Gauguin, Denis, Hodler, Klimt, Munch and Van Gogh, and Canadian painters like Tom Thomson and Emily Carr.

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“Connecting with an order beyond physical appearances, going deeper than material realities to come closer to the mysteries of existence, experimenting with losing oneself in perfect unity with the cosmos: these quests are all characteristic of mysticism, the spiritual phenomenon that exists alongside all religions, in all continents. Why not, then, acknowledge its presence in Western Symbolist painting, which, at the close of the 19th century, precisely sought to elevate art to the medium of the ineffable, and the artist to the rank of initiate?”

Musée d’Orsay
1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris

After taking in an exhibit or two you will want to take a refreshing walk. Consult your No Worries Paris for ideas in the neighborhood.  Happy spring!

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What do Madame de Sévigné, Victor Hugo, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and Colette have in common?

03 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in Paris photos, Paris sidetrips, Paris travel, Paris Walks, Paris Wandering

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Answer: they all lived here at Place Vosges, in my opinion, the prettiest square in Paris. It is ringed with 36 redbrick-and-stone houses—nine on each side, a salute to early urban planning. To love it is to know it’s history. Definitely a place to bring your sandwich (it’s okay to sit on the lawn), take in the sunshine and feel very far away from the traffic on nearby rue de Rivoli.

Four centuries ago this was the site of the Palais des Tournelles, home to King Henry II and Queen Catherine de Medici. The couple staged regular jousting tournaments, and Henry was fatally lanced in the eye during one of them in 1559. Catherine fled to the Louvre, abandoning her palace and ordered it destroyed. In 1612 the square became Place Royale on the occasion of Louis XIII’s engagement to Anne of Austria. Napoléon renamed it Place des Vosges to honor the northeast region of Vosges, the first in the country to pony up taxes to the Revolutionary government.

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Place des Vosges is structured around two pavilions, that of the Queen at the north part of the square, and that of the King at the south part both built deliberately higher. They are not open to the public; however, you can still visit the house of Victor Hugo, author of “Les Misérables”, which is now a municipal museum. It is free and open daily from 9am to 6pm every day except Monday. To preserve this unity, the place has been protected since the 1960s by the “plan for the preservation and enhancement of the Marais” and no intervention, especially on the façades, can be made without the architect’s agreement.

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Chic restaurants, boutiques and art galleries fill the arcade surrounding the park. A small private door, open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., will give you access to the garden of the stately Hotel de Sully, headquarters of the Center for National Monuments. Be sure to visit their well stocked bookstore. Unfortunately they don’t carry No Worries Paris, but you, of course, hopefully already purchased it before your trip to Paris. Place Vosges and all there is to do and see in the area starts on page 93 and is marked on the walking map.

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Hungry?  Here are some recommended restaurants

Au Bourguignon Du Marais, 52 Rue François Miron, 75004. Regional dishes from Burgundy.

La Tartine, 24 Rue de Rivoli, 75004

Chez Janou, 2 Rue Roger Verlomme, 75003

Les Cotelettes, Cafe Martini, Cafe Hugo

Soldes (Sales), 6 weeks of them

19 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Paris Fashion Week, Paris guide, Paris photos, Paris shopping, Paris sidetrips, Paris tips, Paris travel, Paris Walks, Paris Wandering

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Paris’s “Winter Sales” began on January 11 and continue through February 21. It’s not just department stores that are having them. The big fashion houses are also in on the discount extravaganza and there are bargains to be had.

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The discounts are deep, 50 to 70% on selected items. Get there when the doors open, when everything is neatly piled and lines less long at the cash register. Some designers have to limit the number of shoppers in their department store boutiques. You’ll always see a queue of just-off-the-jetters who go for the big brand names.

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Values are waiting in the triangle d’or (Avenue Montaigne, Ave George V, and Rue Francois 1er),  where the finest Haute Couture shops in the world are located. The prestigious houses include: Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, Dolce e Gabbana, Max Mara, Christian LaCroix, Valentino, Prada, Ungaro, Joseph, Bonpoint, Jean Louis Scherrer, Gucci, Pucci, Loewe, Krizia, Bulgari, Calvin Klein, Nina Ricci, Ines de la Fressange, Donna Karan, Celine, Yves Saint Laurent (headquarters), Bulgari, S.F. Dupont, Porthault Linens, Caron, Hermes, Gianfranco Ferré, Givenchy,  Kenzo. Rochas, Courreges, and Balmain. Be prepared to have your purse searched before entering.

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Tired just reading the list? The Georges V (31, avenue George V) to the rescue with a time-out drink at Le Bar or light meal in the L’Orangerie restaurant. The staff are always gracious and welcoming; the flower arrangements will take your breath away. Sidenote: If you’re a guest, free flower arranging classes are offered by their world-renowned flower magician ($200 for non-guests); the staff offer guests  a special morning hour-long jog at 7:30 along the Seine, through the Tuileries (free, once a week), room rates start at $800 a night.

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At 50-70%, even the couture prices may well be beyond your means. Depot-vente (secondhand boutiques) present another choice. Dive into the piles for some amazing bargains all year round:

Mistigriff, 83-85, rue Saint-Charles  75015, https://www.mistigriff.fr 

Chercheminippes, 124 rue du Cherche-midi 75006, http://www.chercheminippes.com.

Didier Ludot,  24 Galerie Montpensier – Jardin du Palais Royal  75001     http://www.didierludot.fr

Kiliwatch, 64 Rue Tiquetonne, 75002 http://www.kiliwatch.fr

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Take a breather in Paris’s EcoJardin: Square du Temple

20 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by in Paris guide, Paris photos, Paris Walks, Paris Wandering

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A park where I take a timeout with a warm croissant/jambon sandwich from the bakery nearby. Nestled in the Marais, you might spot Tai Chi or small yoga classes on delegated green spaces, or someone asleep occupying an entire bench. The scene is everchanging.

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The site of the commandry of the knights of the Order of the Temple in the 13th century, the square became the scene of bloody repressions when the Templars were considered heretics.

It’s a much more peaceful place today. An English garden embellished with numerous exotic trees: American honey locust, goldenrain tree, Ginkgo Biloba, Turkish hazel, and a tall Japanese pagoda specimen embellish the landscape. This is an EcoJardin. It has been awarded the official French stamp of approval which recognizes ecological management guiding gardeners and managers of green spaces towards good practices (only certain sprays can be used, etc).

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The wildlife in this large garden has never been so vibrant. Many different species of birds come to refresh themselves near the ornamental pool and waterfall constructed of rocks from the forest of Fontainebleau.

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Complete directions to get here are in the No Worries Paris guidebook.

Square du Temple
64 rue de Bretagne – 75003 Paris

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