Day 1 - Palais Garnier - Opera House
Day 1: Opera house -
Hi! Day 1. Today we did a handful of things. As a group this morning, we went to the Arc de Triomphe, then the Palais Garnier; the Opera House, and then the Musée Carnivalet! After that a group of us went to this cafe for a snack, then we went to this garden and sat down for a little, then walked around in the district we were in, and then came home for a sec, got dinner, and now I’m writing this! Slay. Now I’m going to talk about the Palais Garnier.
When I looked at this from the outside, I thought it was kind of weird. Besides the front, the rest of the building didn’t look super enticing or interesting. To be honest from our point of view in the beginning I didn’t even realize it was the Opera House. As we went around to the front, it was more impressive. There was great architecture and statues in front, which were super cool. Walking inside, the first thing I noticed was all of the architecture. All of the engravings in the walls were so intriguing. I also noticed all of the arches, as well as the lighting inside. As professor McFarland mentioned, this was a place for more of the middle class; the “people’s palace”. It was a place they could go to see fine art. The extravagant design reflects the fancy style of the 1800s in France; the Second Empire. It still shows off wealth and power, with lots of decorations and intricate architecture.
The Palais Garnier is important historically because it embodied the glory of the Second Empire. It represents the wealth and ambition of the time under Napoleon. Culturally, it’s still a big piece of Parisian identity, as it hosts operas, ballets, and other performances that bring in audiences from all over the world. Its unique design and rich history attracts a ton of people, and shows a glimpse into values of this era, and also serves as a place for expression.
I think the Palais Garnier contributes to the city’s status as a cultural capital because it serves as a main point for the performing arts. All of the productions they have there attract a wide variety of audiences worldwide. It draws tourists due to its architecture, which also boosts Paris’s charm as a cultural destination. Palais Garnier also symbolizes the city’s commitment to art, culture, heritage, and creativity.
Overall, it was such a great day! The Palais Garnier was such a great experience, and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to see it, inside and out. Onto day 2.
ATE.
Sophie
I love these photos!!!! Seeing the opera house was one of the most beautiful things we have seen all trip I loved it! I think this would be a great example to use when answering one of the final questions about how urban monuments connect spaces in a city to a certain moment in history. You talked about how it represents wealth and ambition of the time under Napolean which connects this architecture to a certain moment. I also love how you made sure to talk about how it is a central location for the performing arts which definitely strengthens the city as a cultural capital!!! Amazing blog!
ReplyDeleteGreat job Sophie ;)!! I really liked the way that you brought in the Palais Garnier as an almost caretaker of "art" and in particular the performative arts. I like that you mentioned how important it is to French culture and how it draws in lots of outside tourists as well. I think that this could be an interesting approach to answer question number three about art and art masterpieces.
ReplyDeleteSophie, these are great thoughts! Your voice really comes through in your readings and it is a pleasure to read your thoughts. I think your last two paragraphs might be a little shorter than recommended in the rubric. I had that issue at first and they let me correct it after the fact. Might be something to think about. I think that question 4 in the final might be the one you can best answer with this blog post. If you were going to do that it might pay off to do a few google searches, just check on how many people would circulate through the paris opera every year, that sort of thing to see how influential it actually was. I know I'm going to be doing some supplementary research to back up my answers for the final.
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