Paris--Day 3, Part II

If you do not like ballet or shopping, here is your 21 word summary:

I went to a really big store with lots of fun things. The ballet was wonderful. The Opera House is pretty.

If you do like ballet and shopping, here is the rest of the story:

After coming back with an injured foot from the tour, I decided to relax and ended up taking a 90 minute nap. I was exhausted. I decided to head over early to the Opera Garnier to check out the area. Just as I was coming out of the Metro, I could see in the distance Galarie Lafayette, the famous shopping destination. I knew where I was going!

This department store is HUGE! they had one whole floor the size of a regular Target just for shoes! They have every designer you could think of and then some. I stopped at the Pierre Herme little shop and I will definitely be going back! Pierre Herme is well known for his macarons and his chocolates.

I headed up to the children's section because I am shopping for some special little girls (one yet to be born). The little girls clothes are soooo cute! Very French, but so cute! By that time, I had to head back to the Opera so I made a mental note to come back for sure.

Walking into the Opera house is surreal. It is so grand and so beautiful. I was in the nose-bleed section, but had a fabulous view of the stage. Granted, I wouldn't get the full visual effect since the dancers weren't silhouetted by the staging, rather the gray floor, but it was still a great seat.

Word of wisdom though: if you are late, realize your seats will be taken. There were several people with prime seats in my area that were 5-10 minutes late. As soon as the door closes, people are allowed to move to the better seats. The people who paid for them were stuck in aisle seats...literally aisle seats. They are foldable seats that put you in the middle of the aisle. They also have the biggest visual obstructions.

The ballet itself was fun, but different than most. It's an abstract ballet, played on themes rather than a storyline. It's called Joyaux or Jewels and each movement is a different jewel. The first, Emerald, was my least favorite. It was slow and some of the male dancers were a bit off which surprised me. The best part of this section was the first soloist who did the most amazing choreography with her arms. It's hard to explain, but it was fascinating to watch.

My favorite section was Ruby. The music was Stravinsky (who I love) and the dancing was a mix between traditional ballet with a little bit of attitude and ragtime thrown in. The pair dance in this section was hilarious as they were flirting with each other. Diamonds was the grand finale and was very traditional. There were 34 dancers on stage at some points, but this was also where the male lead got to show off his amazing athletic talent.

It's a short ballet, only an hour and a half so the evening was over all too soon. Now to rest my feet and plan for tomorrow. I wonder what I'll do?