and a rustle of tulle from the wings...

Last night some friends and I got all dolled up in our swishest frocks and headed out to the prettiest venue in Paris, the Opera Garnier. We had tickets to see Onéguine  (a classical ballet based on the novel by Pushkin) but as excited as we were about the show, we were just as interested in getting a peek inside the amazing building that is the Palais Garnier. 

Our tickets themselves were thanks to a parisienne insider tip which I'll share with you all (but shhh!): if you go directly to the box office at the opera house you can get "limited visibility" tickets for all the shows for super-cheap that aren't available online - ours were 10 euros! The view was a little bit limited from our seats, which were the back row of one of the boxes, but we found that we could always stand up if the dancers went out of our line of sight and then we could see perfectly. Which was totally acceptable for 10€! (especially considering a ticket to get into the opera house to sightsee when there are no shows on costs 8€- for the extra 2€ you get a ballet thrown in!)

The Opera Garnier is the building that inspired Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera (which also happens to be my favourite musical of all time). I kept an eye out for the phantom all night, but he didn't make an appearance, though his infamous chandeliers were glitteringly present. 

In any case, even if the curtains had never opened, it would have been 10€ well spent for a night out in Paris. Now don't you go telling everyone about those cheap seats - at least not until I've bought my next ticket! (I'm thinking La fille mal gardée in June - it was one of my favourite ballets when I used to dance). 

Happy opera-going! 

Alice x 

P.S. Onéguine was lovely, I definitely recommend it if you're going to be in Paris before it ends on the 20th of May.