I recently reset my bucket list. The only thing I had not checked off was to see the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights), which is very difficult to time. So, I added seeing the world’s great opera houses – Paris Opera, La Scala, and Covent Gardens as starters. As a result, my family and I decided to travel during Christmas to satisfy the Paris Opera listing. We rationalized the price by saying this would be our Christmas gift to each other. Alexander Borodin’s Prince Igor (1890) was playing in Paris during the time we could travel (I should note that Borodin left the opera unfinished, and it was completed by Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov). We purchased tickets for the December 23 performance, but there was a complication.
Photos of the Palais Garneir in Paris by author and Debra McCoy Rogers (fiammatravels.com). The inside remains a mystery for now.
The main reason I wanted to attend the Paris Opera was my desire to see an opera in the magnificent 1900-seat Palais Garnier opera house, a symbol for grand opera. It is a stunning piece of opulent 19th century architecture, constructed to impress, to be a gathering place for rich and famous Parisiennes to be seen, though today all are welcomed. Informative exhibits on the history of opera are housed inside, and tours are offered. However, Paris Opera (or in French, Opéra de Paris, and formally, the Opéra Nationale de Paris) which began in 1689 and moved into Palais Garnier in the late 1800’s, now has two venues for opera productions. In 1989, the Bastille Train Station on the site of the Bastille of the French revolution fame of 1789, was replaced by a modern, circular 2700-seat opera house known as Opera Bastille. Most operas are now held in Opera Bastille, and Palais Garnier is used mainly for ballet and concerts. Prince Igor was scheduled for Opera Bastille. Thus, we also scheduled a ballet by Paris Opera Ballet, titled Le Parc, for December 25 in Palais Garnier to experience the inside of the opera house. Truly, this was to be an exciting trip.
The Fan Experience: A couple of weeks before our trip we became aware of the travel problems being caused by the strike of railway workers in France, worrisome, but the trip had been arranged for months with travel reservations paid for and hotel deposits made; we went ahead with it. We arrived in Paris on December 22, smartly using a transfer to get to the hotel, rather than dealing with altered train and metro schedules. On the way to Paris, we heard some opera performances had been canceled, but December 23 was still in play when we arrived. Early afternoon on December 23, we received an email from Paris Opera that the evening’s performance had been cancelled due to the ongoing strike and protests against President Macron’s proposed changes to the French pension system. Some opera staff whose pensions would be affected by the proposed changes supported the large strike ordered by the French syndicate of labor unions, causing opera and ballet performances to be cancelled. When life hands you a lemon, you are supposed to make lemonade. We hired a driver for a couple hours and took in the Christmas lights of Paris at night – really fun.
Paris at night for Christmas - Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and Champs Élysées, and one of the Christmas windows at Galeries Lafayette. Photos by author.
We also had to alter our Christmas Eve dinner plans, as the heavy pressure on taxis made them impossible to reserve. We managed to get into a recommended restaurant closer to our hotel and had an excellent dinner. All now rested on Le Parc being performed, and on Christmas Eve, Paris Opera Ballet was still selling tickets for the Christmas Day performance.
Notice of Le Parc cancellation. Photo by Debra Rogers (fiammatravels.com).
On Christmas Day, we left for Palais Garnier two hours before the 2:30 pm performance. We arrived to find all entrances to Palais Garnier closed, but still no word from Paris Opera Ballet. We were among a crowd circling the opera house, which I have to admit is a fabulous structure to walk around. Eventually, we saw a white sign, about 15 by 20 inches, attached to the large iron gates that lead to the ticket office that stated all performances were cancelled on December 25. At 1:21 pm, slightly more than an hour’s notice, we received an email from Paris Opera Ballet telling us that Le Parc had been cancelled. I admit this time I did not make lemonade. I went with my son to walk along the Seine; he examined used books for sale, and I sulked. Dinner that evening at Le Train Bleu did help somewhat.
I suppose the moral of the story is that stuff happens, and plans don’t always work out. I certainly understand that there were larger issues at play than my seeing an opera and bear no ill will towards anyone. Getting the issues settled around the French retirement system is a weighty matter, and I wish them well. I read that Paris Opera would lose $12 million in revenue by the end of 2019 and that the strike was to continue into the new year (they planned to pay the performers whose performances were cancelled). I also feel sympathy for the performers who trained for Prince Igor and were thwarted.
Given all that I got out of the trip, I certainly don’t feel sorry for myself, and Paris Opera is reimbursing us the price of the tickets. I still enjoyed being in Paris (always) and I hope to go again and hope to get Paris Opera checked off my list at some point. But I am disappointed. Arts experiences are more than entertainment. Artistic experiences grow the heart. A space for personal growth was not realized. An opportunity to become more human was lost. My heart remains unreimbursed.
Still, one moves on. In this case, we moved on to Lyon, in hopes that Opéra Lyon’s Le Roi Carotte was still to be performed. More on that in my next blog report.