On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
It’s the start of another week of Paris After Dark. opiejeanne submitted two sets of photos for Paris After Dark and told me to pick one or the other, or pick my favorites. I went with the mix-and-match approach, so any errors or potential mismatch of descriptions and photos are mine. Hopefully the cupcakes aren’t matched with the opera house description, and so on! ~WaterGirl
opiejeanne
In 2014 we rented a small apartment in Paris for 10 days.There were walking tour maps there that we made good use of, and some of these photos are the result. The thing that really gets me is how much art is everywhere, in the ornaments on buildings, ironwork at the Metro, even the lamp posts are decorative, but also how beautiful images appear that almost look planned but are not.
The gardens in the first few shots are inside the Palais-Royal which was built in the 1600s and originally called the Palais-Cardinal. It was the home of Cardinal Richelieu until his death when it became the property of the king and was renamed.
Outside the Domaine du Palais-Roya.l
I’m not sure why, but this scene struck me as one that would suggest Paris even if you didn’t know where it was shot.
This is just one section of the gardens inside the Palais Royal. You can see a little of the 17th century arcade beyond the fountain. The arcades on either side of these gardens were filled with little shops with artwork, antiques, shoes, jewelry, photography, toys, and more.
Garnier Opera House, Grand Foyer. Just one of many huge, elaborately decorated rooms and passages.
The Garnier Opera House in Paris. An amazing space.
“the 1,979-seat opera house at the Place de l’Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at the behest of Emperor Napoleon III.”
Ceiling in the Garnier Opera House, Paris. The painting is by Marc Chagall. This photo doesn’t really show how massive that chandelier is, but it weighs 7 tons.
Bakeries are everywhere in Paris, and they all display beautiful things in the window. This is the bakery around the corner from our apartment. We bought palmiers here for breakfast, among other things.
In Paris there are several of these covered arcades with little shops, and you can miss them if you’re not looking for them. The arcade was a pretty place and I like that you can see the nearby buildings through the roof. It was a rainy day when we visited.
We spent some time in this gallery. We bought some Redoute prints in a shop near right at the entrance, and some postcards* at another shop in a busier area, behind where I stood to take this.
*I asked some younger people I know from a baseball blog if they wanted me to send them some French Postcards, and the older guys all laughed and asked for them too. They did explain it to the younger guys, and I found some that were pretty tame but considered racy at the time they were shot.
One of the costumes on display in the Garnier Opera House. This is “Nabucco”.
randy khan
I always think of London as the city with arcades, but there definitely are some nice ones in Paris (and also a modern one in Norfolk, Virginia).
Lapassionara
Wow. The 7 ton chandelier is impressive, and reminds me of a musical I once saw.
these photos are lovely. Thanks, Opiejeane
MazeDancer
Beautiful pics!
Auntie Anne
Oh, these are marvelous! Thank you so much for sharing.
We stayed in the Opera district but didn’t visit – your pictures make me regret that choice. I ❤️ that gallery! We visited one too, but I don’t think it was the same one. The interior details are lovely.
arrieve
I love the Palais Royale. I once had dinner at Le Grand Vefour, one of the great Parisian restaurants, which is located there. I don’t really remember the food, surprisingly, though it was very good, but I clearly remember the trio of waiters who hovered over our table delivering dishes, removing plates, pouring wine, brushing away crumbs, while keeping up a level of charming repartee. My best friend’s boyfriend was so annoyed by the cost that he sulked for the rest of the trip but it was Worth Every Franc.
opiejeanne
@Lapassionara: I’ve seen that musical too.
opiejeanne
@arrieve: We stuck to bistros both times we were there, but I planned to go to one really nice restaurant on the trip we couldn’t take in May. If we are ever able to go to Paris again, that’s on the list of things we will do.
Sulking boyfriends are annoying and sometimes hilarious, at least in retrospect.
eclare
Beautiful photos! I hope to go back again, I think the opera house was closed when I was there.
Jean
I loved the bakery shop windows in Paris. There was a patisserie a block from where we stayed, “L’hotel Californie” of all things. On the Left Bank, near Notre Dame. The windows were filled with pastries that looked gift-wrapped: pastry hearts, strawberries between them, and the tied together with ribbon.
Kristine
Lovely photos.
donatellonerd
really nice
There go two miscreants
Oh yes! The bakeries! Something that was pretty common here in the U.S. when I was growing up, but harder to find now.
Falling Diphthong
Love the costume from the Opera. So much detail.
I don’t often comment on these travel threads but always read them, and so grateful for people sharing.
J R in WV
Wonderful selection of photos, Opiejeanne, thanks so much for the careful selection and the wonderful photography!
On our one trip to Spain and France to tour the wonderful ancient cave paintings, rather than flying home from Toulouse where the tour ended, we took a regular train to Paris, watching the wonderful rural French countryside drift by. When we told the conductor how much we were enjoying his train trip to Paris, he made a moue and said “Oh, This? Really!?” which was so perfect. But at the time we were sipping red French wine with wonderful sandwiches.
Our first night in Paris very near the Louvre, we saw a nearby restaurant with piles of fish and ice 6 feet high outside their front, and went in, and it was very good. But the second night, and last night in Europe, I found a Michelin starred seafood place, called and made reservations. So wife and I put on our one dressy outfit after 2 weeks on the road caving and called a cab.
The very nice modern place turned out to be directly across the Seine from the Eiffel tower. So Madame Wife had a wonderful view for the whole evening. We ate slowly and drank champagne for hours. It was wonderful, amazing, creative food, everyone was friendly and so happy that we were delighted by their work. I could see into the kitchen, which as a cook meant that I had the superior view. Worth every Euro, the memory is available whenever I think of Paris.
opiejeanne
@J R in WV: That sounds like quite the trip. Cave paintings!
We had one waiter put on a hilarious show of being snotty to the Americans. He brought out a bottle of ketchup when we ordered those delicious ham sandwiches, bread, butter, and ham for 3 Euros, and acted disappointed when I told him, “Non.”
“Non?”
“Non, merci.”
He shrugged his shoulders and muttered “Non” just loud enough that we could hear him.
Wouldn’t take our money, refused to understand us until I remembered the correct phrase to ask for the bill. As he raced to get it, I said, a little astonished but quietly to David, “it worked!”
We heard him echo, “It worked!” and we laughed, and we could hear him laughing. We wanted to applaud when he brought the bill, wanted to give him a standing ovation.
I think we tipped him despite knowing how gauche that made us, because this was after 2 pm, the kitchen was closed, and we split the sandwich because it was so huge. This was over by the Rodin museum.