The Palais Garnier holds the famous "Phantom of the Opera" Opera House which is no longer, in fact, used for operas due to lack of space (they simply can't accomodate the number of people who normally attend the opera, so now they are held at Opera Bastille). The Palais Garnier now hosts mostly ballet and modern dance performances.
The Palais is beautiful and extremely gilded. You can see the front of it on a post I made earlier, when we went to the ballet there. It was commissioned by Napoleon III, who had recently endured an attempted assassination at the Opera Bastille, the other Opera House. He decided he needed a safer place to view his operas, and had an architectural contest, which Charles Garnier won at the age of only 32. It was completed in 1874.
This looks a bit like the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.
The tour guide explained the many different entrances into the Opera, which depended on the social status of the guest. Unfortunately, Napoleon III died before the Opera House was completed, so he never even got the chance to use his special kingly (emperor-ly?) entrance. As a result, they never built it! The walls are just covered with plain white plaster.
Another fun fact - because the chandelier was lit by candles and it was so difficult to lower and lift it (it weighs 6 tons!), it was impossible to turn out the lights during performances. So people didn't pay attention to the performance as much as they paid attention to EACH OTHER. That incredibly heavy chandelier fell once, killing one person. That accident was actually the inspiration for "Phantom of the Opera". Also, back in the day, the Opera took hours and hours, because the guests would have a huge dinner during intermission.
My favorite part of the Opera Garnier was the Chagall painting that surrounds the main chandelier. It was only put in place in 1964, and the installation was quite a scandal. People complained that it clashed with the rest of the Opera House, and I think they're right. But it clashes in a good way! It's so bright and colorful, and pays homage to many composers, musicians, dancers, works of art, and places in Paris. Take a look.
I think it's great. But then again, I love Chagall.
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