Paris in the Spring

[shankley]

I just found your forum-is there no end to useful things on the internet!

I am planning to go to see the French nat Ballet in the Spring of 2008.

Does any one still know if they reserve tickets for buying on the day of the performance at the door?

I bought tickets by chance like this 15 years ago, but that was pre-internet!

Does this wonderful tradition still survive?

I wrote to a friend about that evening a while ago: I met my friends back at their apartment, and they drove me round Paris in their car as the sun was setting, looking at the sights: I had never seen the City of Light from this vantage before, so it was a real treat, flying past so many familiar buildings, watching them glow in the warmth of the setting sun. We had tickets for the ballet, at Opera Garnier. None of us had ever been before(!). As we entered the magnificent Baroque foyer, I remembered two other magical photos by Cartier-Bresson, taken in that wonderful space: so being there felt like one was living in a work of art. (Is this the magic of Paris in its essence?) I had been lucky enough to get us great seats for the performances: three short works by Eric Lander, Harold Robbins and William Forcythe. All quite different, but it was the Lander piece, which came first, which captured me. It was called "Etudes" (made in 1948), and is a technical tour de force, set to music by Carl Czerny. No words of mine can do it justice. After the climatic finale, I simply couldn't move, I was overwhelmed. Eventually, I came back into this plane of existence. I was so moved that I was in tears, it was THAT wonderful. After the performance, we had dinner at the belle epoque restaurant, Le Dome, on Blvd. S. Michel. A perfect end to a perfect day.

[Azulynn]

There are no regular tickets held back and sold on the day of the performance, apart from returns. At the Opéra Bastille (only) you can queue for standing tickets, which go on sale an hour before the performance.

Enjoy your stay in Paris !

[Nanarina]

Hello Shankley.

Paris in the Spring, how wonderful, to walk by the Seine, see the grdens with bulbs and blossom, I hope you enjoy your visit. I am going to the Palais Garnier in July to se Les dame aux Camelias, sadly my faourite dancer Aurelie Dupont is on M...leave, so I will not be able to see her, but no doubt there will be someone else I can enjoy performing.

I went last October to see the new Berlioz Romeo and Juliette, again I missed A.D. due to a mix up with my booking, but I saw Melanie Hurel, who was very good. This time it was at The Opera Bastille, the production was choeographed by Sasha Waltz, there are excerps on various sites you can see, it was a wonderful experience, so moving with the Orchestra, magnificent music, chorus, and Opera Soloists, as well as the Dancers.

By the end I was feeling very emotional, with a lump in my throat, and tears in my eyes, I barely had time to gather myself together before the lights went up

It would appear I will have another erxcuse to go to Paris again. Later on, when Aurelie is back. It only takes 55 minutes from my local airport in Norfolk to get to Charles de Gaul Airport at Rossey, Paris. Although I am not that keen on Nureyev's choreography, I do quite fancy seeing Cinderella.

Enjoy the time you spend in that wonderful city.