Palais Garnier

Donna just came back from a Sante Fe opera tour and mentioned one of the operas she saw was Tosca. That reminded us of the time we saw Tosca in Paris at the Palais Garni er in 1972. It was a pretty spectacular performance beginning with a chorus with a couple of hundred singers and four horses to boot on stage!  The seats we had were "demi-visibilité" (half view). There were actually some which were "sans-visibilité" (no view). The seats were in a room about 6' x 4' but you did have to strain your neck to see the stage. 

About half way through the performance an American woman knocked on the door and asked if she could sit with us (there were extra chairs and I guess the usher said there was room) as she had bought tickets very high up so she could see the famous painted ceiling but was getting dizzy.  

So I looked up this famous painted ceiling and found out it was by Marc Chagall! At the time, it wouldn't have meant anything to us.

Chagall’s magnificent ceiling in Paris’s Opéra Garnier, a masterwork that was unveiled on this day in 1964.

The nearly 2,600-square-foot canvas, which required a staggering 440 pounds of paint, was not initially so well received, however. When French Minister of Culture André Malraux announced the commission for the project in 1960, many were outraged by the prospect of a modernist painter—and a foreign-born one, at that—taking his brush to the ceilings of Charles Garnier’s neo-Baroque masterpiece. But Chagall’s passion for the project won out.

Completed over the course of eight months in various Paris studios, the canvas commemorated contemporary and historic composers, actors, and dancers, evoking the transformative power and beauty of art through the rich color and composition for which Chagall was known. The work quickly won over many early doubters and became a benchmark for integrating modernism into France’s historic landmarks: A year later André Masson would be commissioned to create a new ceiling for the Théâtre de l’Odéon. Chagall’s ceiling is now one of the Opéra’s most popular attractions.

More photos from this very interesting link. The writer mentions that dress is smart business now but when we were there the men were in tuxedos and women in formal gowns except for us and a few other stray tourists. I was wearing red "hot pants" (a short pants jumpsuit)...the most dressy thing I had! And he mentions you don't need to tip the ushers. Well, our usher rattled her bag of change so not much choice for us at that time.

https://independenttravelcats.com/attending-a-performance-at-the-palais-garnier-tips-and-advice-on-going-to-the-paris-opera-garnier/

Hmm....I think perbaps I posted something like this before. I guess I forgot it was Chagall. Ah well...pretty pictures!
Update:  Actually she didn't see Tosca in Sante Fe....looks like I got a lot wrong.